With One Note
by C. C. Snow
Summary: Beca Mitchell had survived her days keeping her life in ultimate privacy. She was also okay with caring less about other people's emotions. So what happens when a certain redhead decides to dig deep into her mystery, bring back to the surface what she has long denied? Will Beca be able to confront the truth about herself?
1. Chapter 1: The Notorious Bastard

**_A/N. (I don't own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind the movie Pitch Perfect.) So here goes my first shot at a Pitch Perfect fanfic! Hope you guys like it! R+R please! =) SPECIAL THANKS TO your-arms-around-me FOR ALL THE HELPFUL CRITIQUE AND ALSO TO TheFlameRose FOR OFFICIALLY BETA-ING THIS CHAPTER._**

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**With One Note**

**Chapter 1: The Notorious Bastard**

Chloe sat at the bar to hit on some cocktail. It was the last Sunday before school started, and everyone else was having a final blast at a party in this resort Aubrey dragged Chloe to. The night was young, but the redhead was bored stiff with herself. Apparently, this wasn't her idea of a _final blast_.

"What can I get you, pretty lady? _Tequila_? Or are you the _Rye Malt_ type?" The bartender perked up in front of Chloe.

Chloe checked her mood to decide which drink might match it."Oh, uh, well I, uh-,"

"Hey, McDowell. What's rockin'?" A petite brown-haired girl asked, sitting on the stool beside Chloe.

The bartender greeted back with enthusiasm. "Hey there, Deejay! You up for some _Bourbon Lancer_?"

"Yep. Make that two," the brunette chuckled, gesturing to Chloe.

"Oh. I didn't realize she's your company," the bartender said, retreating to go make their drinks.

The odd brunette held out a hand, ready to shake Chloe's. "Name's Beca."

"Chloe." She accepted the handshake.

"Wow Chloe, you're rocking that blue bikini!"

"You can actually see it through this?" Chloe asked, gesturing to the black lace beach tunic that she wore over Aubrey's bikini. The redhead wasn't really feeling comfortable with it. The only reason the bikini incidentally got transferred into her possession was that her best friend was a fashion Nazi, who threatened to send Chloe to concentration camp if she didn't lose the tank top and denim shorts.

"Well, it's black, and basically the electric blue under it kind of highlights itself out so, yes. I can."

"Wow Beca, that's some fashion eye you got there." Chloe winked. By first look at Beca, she had assumed that the girl was some natural introvert; that through the thick eyeliner hides a mysterious girl with a sad story. Well, Beca barged in, buying her a drink before introducing herself and had criticized Aubrey's bikini out loud, so Chloe _definitely_ had her cards messed up.

"Shhhh!" Beca leaned in a little to Chloe. "That's just between us. They refer to me as a Notorious Bastard around here." She chuckled.

"Badass, huh? Well, I say you're adorable," Chloe mocked.

Beca wrinkled her nose while holding a smile - something Chloe found so cute. "Sorry, I already had some shots earlier. Some tall blondie tried to talk me out of something by bribing me with alcohol." She chuckled. "It won't surprise me if I go back to the stage walking tipsy after the _Lancer_… Speaking of the devil…"

The bartender returned with the drinks. "Two _Bourbon_ kicks right here," he announced, placing the glasses before the ladies.

"Thanks, McDowell." Beca reached out for her pocket and paid the man for both drinks.

"So Beca, you're a deejay, huh?" Chloe said before sipping from her glass.

"Not exactly the perfect label, but yeah, you could say that. I just do simple gigs though. I mean, I'm a fresh shit who just left high school and is currently enrolled at a hell barn around so the deejay thing will have to be official some time other than today." She frowned and then shook her head, trying to regain her sanity. "God! My words don't even make sense anymore. I'm sorry Chloe I'm just - tired." She slammed her head to the counter.

Chloe smiled at Beca's comical mannerism. "No, it's okay. I actually kinda enjoy your company."

"Good." She raised up her head and looked at the redhead, her eyelids drooping. "But you'll like me less when I'm sober."

She raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh yeah? Why is that?"

"Because the real me is a big-time bitch." Beca chuckled at the thought. "People don't really like me for my inability to feel, so I just don't really like them back." She kept a smile, apparently displaying pride at her own confession.

"Wow. That was so - so straightforward." Chloe couldn't tell if it's the truth or it was just the alcohol speaking. In any case, she found herself gripped to Beca's mysteriousness.

A ringtone went off. Beca immediately reached for the pockets of her jeans, locating her phone.

She held it to her ear as soon as she successfully grappled it out of her pants. "It's Beca, bitch. What's up?" Beca's eyes widened right after. "Oh, hi Dad!"

Chloe spit her drink a little at the blooper.

"Dad, calm down. I'm still at the resort. I still owe Jackson and the guys another 45 minutes so I won't take off 'till then... Uh, no I haven't been drinking." She glanced sideways at Chloe who shot both her eyebrows skyward at her silly lie. "I know, dad. I told you - not one sip... Okay, bye." Beca hung up and indiscriminately tossed her phone to the counter.

"Your dad actually bought that?" Chloe giggled.

"I doubt it. He knew he was speaking to the alcohol that is already all over my system. I guess he's just too tired from work to actually care." Beca quaffed on her _Lancer_, deepening the irony on purpose.

A man's voice came up out of thin air. "Hey, sexy." As he approached, he propped his elbows at the counter, just beside Beca. McDowell attended to him as he ordered a drink.

Beca rolled her eyes upon realizing who it was. "Come on, Chloe. Let's get out of here."

She was about to stand up when the guy sardonically spoke. "Hey babe, don't leave me here all alone. Where are you going?"

Beca glared at him. "What do you want, Haull? Want me to introduce you to my fist?!"

"Woah there, deejay sleazebag. I'm not here to grab the spotlight again when you go on a date with the clinic." Haull's face was met by Beca's left hook, making his last two words barely audible. He dropped to floor, knocking along two other guys and a waiter with his tray.

Chloe gasped; she totally didn't see it coming. The little brawl has already drawn attention from the club crowd. Seeing Haull's nose starting to bleed profusely, Chloe placed a hand over her shocked expression. Who knew that Beca could take down such a big guy with her tiny frame?

Beca got down to Haull and clutched the collar of his now blood-stained shirt - pulling him up a little. "You know what, punk?!..." She said with conviction. "I can do this all night!"

"Beca!" Chloe called from her stance, afraid to touch the brunette. She will literally just fly off with one backward swing of Beca's resistant arm if even she tried to restrain her.

Beca ignored Chloe's voice. She let go her grip on Haull, dropping him back flat on the floor. With her fist still clenched, Beca raised her left arm, positioning herself ready to throw a crisper hook. She was about to swing it when another guy gripped Beca by her arm and grappled her neck - finally restraining her, and pulled her away from Haull.

"Beca, calm down!" The guy spoke low to Beca's ear, apparently bridling the urge to indiscriminately scold the drunk girl.

Beca struggled to free herself from the guy's arm which was locked around her neck. "Fuck it! Let me go, Jesse!" But he was determined in his grip. People were pooling more and more around them, but Beca didn't seem to care. She just kept on making a larger scene.

Jesse looked to the bleeding man that Beca had knocked over. "Haull, just go!"

Without hesitation, Haull got up weakly and ran away from the scene. Right after that, Jesse freed Beca, who panted as she tried to calm herself down from her rage.

"Show's over!" Jesse yelled over to the curious crowd. They shrugged and dispersed, like they were disappointed more hadn't come of the fight. Chloe stayed - hoping to be able to comfort her new-found friend.

"What the hell, Jesse?!" Beca reproached, glaring at him.

Jesse ran a hand to his hair, holding in another impulse to say something that might trigger Beca's inner fury again. "That's it, Becs; we're leaving."

"Who said I'm obliged to listen to you, huh? I'm staying 'till this whole party is fucking over." Beca arrogantly argued.

"Do it, and I'm telling your father all about this mess." Jesse said, speaking in the _alpha_ tone.

Beca, still glaring at him, took a deep breath. She hated Jesse's ability to manipulate her so easily. Caving in, she rolled her eyes and walked away, already heading for the parking lot.

"Beca," Chloe began, but the brunette simply walked past her. Jesse followed shortly.

"Hey!" Chloe called out to Jesse, who stopped and turned to face her. "Jesse, right?"

He nodded.

Chloe held out Beca's phone, which had been tossed at the counter just before Haull charged in. "Beca left this." She handed it to Jesse.

"Oh thanks."

"Um, Jesse? Can you tell Beca to text me when she gets home? I um, just want to make sure that she'll be okay. I saved my number in it." Chloe sheepishly said - trying to avoid any awkwardness as she thought of Jesse as Beca's boyfriend or something.

"Yeah, sure." Jesse smiled at her before taking off.

"Hey, Red. Who was that guy?" Aubrey appeared suddenly, causing Chloe to jump.

"Gosh, Bree!" She placed a hand over her heart as she let out a sigh. "Next time, send a warning."

"You haven't answered my question yet!" Aubrey squirmed enthusiastically.

"No one! He was I think the boyfriend of the girl I was talking to earlier."

"Oh." Aubrey puffed her cheeks playfully. "You know for a second there, I was about to call Tom and tell him that you've found a new mate." She winked.

"Hey," Chloe raised a hand, signalling Aubrey to slow down and back off of the lies. "Tom and I aren't dating. We're just good friends. And that guy I was talking to, he's nothing."

"Ten bucks, says you got allured to something _interesting_ tonight." Aubrey bet, doubting Chloe by her defences. Chloe rolled her eyes at Aubrey's drunken dare.

But she must admit, Aubrey had already won the ten bucks. She did find herself allured to something interesting, just not anything equating to Jesse - as Aubrey apparently thought. It was Beca. Something about her captured Chloe. May it be Beca's smooth left hook on Haull, or her unexpected fashion eye, Chloe didn't know. She was sure of one thing, though; Beca poses behind a mask. She definitely sees the brunette as something much more than the '_badass' _behavior she sported tonight.

_That notorious bastard..._ Chloe thought once more.

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Beca woke up the next day with dry mouth and a throbbing headache. She squinted and looked at the time, grunting in vexation when the little green numbers came into focus. After taking a shower, she went to the kitchen to grab herself a cold glass of water.

"You went home early last night," Sebastian grunted, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he approached the kitchen.

"Jackson changed his mind at the last minute," Beca lied. She opened the cupboard to get her cereal box and walked to the dining area.

Sebastian followed behind his daughter. "You also just missed a class, Bec."

Beca rolled her eyes. "Uh, no. The clock reads 9:44 in the morning. Technically, I still have sixteen minutes before Psychology 101 starts."

She sat at the table and poured corn flakes and milk into her bowl. Sebastian sat across her.

"I thought you said you love that class." He watched her eat.

Beca spoke with her mouth full. "I do, dad. And I wouldn't be missing it if I actually live in a dormitory inside campus instead of this stupid house which is, like, forty minutes away from Barden."

Sebastian let out a sigh. "Beca, we've talked about this."

"Yeah," she sighed, "I know, Dad. You don't feel comfortable with no one watching over me. Well, in case you didn't know, Barden's dorms allow roommates. I won't really be alone. Plus I got 911 and your number on speed dial, so I don't get why you feel the need to worry over me all the time," she explained.

Sebastian couldn't find the words to say back. Her daughter was right. He was simply playing the overprotective dad card. Just like he always has.

This brought Sebastian to another topic. "I know you drank shots last night."

"Dad, we've talked about this." Beca mockingly imitated her father's expression. She definitely loathes her alcohol restraints.

"Yeah, but you know - I'm just concerned." Sebastian said.

"You're always concerned," she replied, her voice full of sarcasm.

Sebastian smiled; it was good to know that she noticed - somehow. "Well, I have a lot of reasons to be."

"Beca!" Someone called out as the sound of the front door shutting echoed through the room.

Sebastian squinted in confusion. "Is that Jesse?"

"Yep." Beca smiled. "Over here, Jess!"

Jesse walked to the dining area, "Beca, you'll never believe what Jackson told me last n-," He stopped upon seeing Sebastian. "Mr. Mitchell! I'm so sorry. I didn't realize-,"

"No, it's okay, Jesse." Sebastian stood from his seat. "I was just leaving."

"Why are you home? I thought you're teaching Comparative Literature every Monday morning," Jesse inquired.

Sebastian sighed, "I am, but the seniors have this three-day leadership training thing so, I'm off for the day." He gave Jesse a pat on his back upon walking by him. "T'was so cool that you realized that." He chuckled before walking away.

Jesse sat across Beca, who is still eating. "Guess you're still a little drunk since you didn't remember your dad's schedule, huh?"

Beca didn't answer; she kept on chewing silently. The last thing she'd want to do at this hour is to contemplate on how she totally missed the fact that her dad is at home at this time of the day.

_Damn, this is the worst hangover ever, _she moaned mentally.

Beca nurtures the habit of memorizing who leaves the house at what times so that she'll know which mornings she gets the house all to herself, and the afternoons to avoid when Sheila, her stepmother, breathes the same air as her (apparently, something that Beca finds so unbearably unpleasant just by knowing so).

"Jackson called last night," Jesse stated, breaking the silence. "He told me to get your pay from last night's gig, which I did earlier today, by the way - knowing you'll be sleeping in. Plus! He told me that he got you six more gigs lined up for the next two months!" He grinned, centering pride at himself. "How awesome am I?!"

Beca smirked in amusement at Jesse's announcement. "Very awesome!" She raised a hand, seeking a high-five which Jesse happily gave. "Dude thanks for referring me to the man!"

"No prob, weirdo," he mocked.

Jesse has always been the sole supporter of Beca's passion for deejay_-_ing ever since they met, considering that Sebastian has always pointed out how it is only a hobby and not a profession. It was through Jesse that Jackson learned of Beca's impressive mixing skills (leading him to hire the young girl in one of his client's events – thus, the resort gig yesterday).

Beca continued gormandizing her beloved corn flakes - this time, doing it enthusiastically.

"God, Becs, you passed out last night just as I helped you get into your room." Jesse said.

"Ugh, tell me about it."

"Which is why, I forgot to tell you that someone returned your phone last night." He placed Beca's phone on the desk.

Beca threw a hand to her forehead in embarrassment. "Damn it! Oh man, Jess, I guess I may still be a little drunk right now. I didn't even notice that my phone was missing!" She sighed. "And it was with you the whole time?"

"How do you think I learned about your pay and lined up gigs from Jackson? He knows I'm not your talent manager or something. He called your phone; I picked up. That's all." He then reached out and, faster than Beca could react, seized her cherished cornflakes without warning.

"What the hell, dude?! I'm eating!" She angrily said, standing up from her seat to reach across the table for her bowl.

"Calm down, Becs! I'm gonna return it. Hear me out for now, will ya?" Jesse knew that his best friend hated it when she's interrupted while eating, but this blackmail was the only way he can force out serious answers from her at the moment.

Beca reluctantly retreated to her chair. "Fine."

"Who was the redhead last night? The one who, by the way, asked me to tell you to text her when you get home so she could check up on you." Jesse asked, grinning excitedly while waiting for Beca to answer.

She raised an eyebrow upon getting baffled by Jesse's words. "Redhead? What redhead?"

He rolled his eyes, "You know, the one who returned your phone to me last night? Look I know you were too drunk at the party, but you were never the _'too-wasted-to-remember'_ type."

"Oh, the _redhead_," Beca said as the memory finally resurfaced. "Her name was Chelsea something; I forgot." She shook her head digging deeper into memory. "Wait, she told you that?"

Jesse chuckled at the brunette's silly hangover peculiarities. "Yes, she did. She also said that she saved her number in your phone."

Beca reached for her phone which lay on the table and checked her contacts. "It's not her name. I have a _'Chelsea, The Slut'_ in here, so unless she's my blonde cousin from Nevada-," She chuckled upon bringing up her cousin to the surface.

"Anyway, it's not like I would ever contact her, even if I did know her number," she said. Beca is very much aware of her _friendly_ alternate persona when she's intoxicated so she supposed this redhead as just another shock absorber of her flirty attacks. Once sober, she uses this excuse to cut off bonds she accidentally made under the influence of alcohol.

Jesse didn't seem to content with her response, but he knew very well that she was sincere in her words. _For Pete's sake, her bowl of corn flakes was at stake!_ He thought.

Sebastian returned to the dining area to have a glass of water.

"Ashley keeps asking about you, Becs. It's been going on for almost a week," Jesse said, pushing back Beca's bowl to her. "I kept dismissing her by saying that I would look into it, but I kept forgetting to tell you about it. This morning, she followed me around the quad just to remind me.

"Ugh, I hate how I got transferred to Professor Qwell's class for Math 600! Ashley attends it too. It just gave her more opportunities to inquire to me about your contact info," Jesse whined.

"Why didn't you give her my number, anyway?"

"Well I wanted to get your blessing first. I mean, if she's really grown to be that annoying, you might be hiding from her on purpose to escape the misery," Jesse explained.

Beca chuckled. "Well she can get on people's nerves sometimes. If she kept bugging you on how to reach me, the matter must really be important. Ash-Ash always has her reasons for things."

"Except when she's being annoying," Jesse added. "That would be her - plainly being annoying."

Beca chuckled. "It's okay, Jess. I'll talk to her, if she really wants me to."

"Okay then! I know now what to tell Ash-Ash," Jesse said.

"Ash-Ash? Beca's cousin Ash-Ash?" Sebastian chimed in, acting as though he hadn't been paying attention to the rest of their conversation.

Beca rolled her eyes on her father. "Yes, dad. Ashley - your sister's daughter, AKA your niece. She also just started at Barden."

It's been a while since Sebastian heard from his sister and her family. It wasn't because of rivalry or unhealthy relationships of any kind; his sister moved out of Georgia when she re-married. For some unknown reason then, all contacts were cut off. "Sissie didn't tell me they've moved back here."

Not being a big fan of cute and girly stuff, Beca sighed heavily at the name her father calls her aunt. "They didn't. Ashley is the only one here in Georgia; she's staying in one of Barden's dorms."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Sebastian sat with Beca and Jesse. His daughter gave him a _'What are you saying?'_ look complete with one raised eyebrow. He continued speaking, hoping to knock the sense into Beca. "You've always wanted to be in a dorm, right?" But instead of answering him, she only threw back a face that urged him to get straight to the point. "Okay, okay. Fine." He sighed. "I hereby allow you to stay at a dormitory, provided that Ash-Ash will live with you."

Beca grinned and stood up, clutching Sebastian in a tight hug. Jesse and Sebastian exchanged looks, confused by her sudden hug-attack. They knew the brunette to be so much respectful of her own private space and has not let anyone in for a long time since The Divorce.

This could mean only one thing:

Sebastian had undervalued Beca's intense desire of staying at a dorm. For now, though, he's just glad to have earned a hug from her.


	2. Chapter 2: Your New Head Bitch

**_A/N. (I don't own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind the movie Pitch Perfect.) Hey guys! This is the second chapter! Reviews pleaseeee! I desperately need them! Any flaws you can find, any tips, anything... I'd be happy to hear from you. =) SPECIAL THANKS TO TheFlameRose FOR BETA-ING THIS CHAPTER._**

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**Chapter 2: Your New Head Bitch**

Chloe and Aubrey sat under the old oak tree in the quad, each in their own little world. Aubrey was fuming, checking her phone every other minute as her impatience got the better of her. Chloe sang softly to herself, much to Aubrey's annoyance, and thought about the brunette from the resort. She had never texted or called, but maybe that was just because she had been busy or something.

"We haven't even officially met them yet and I already have impressions, and let me tell you, they aren't going to like them," Aubrey growled, trying her best not to get pissed off just yet.

"Well, maybe they didn't get the right memo," Chloe offered, being her usual optimistic self.

"Yeah, right!" Aubrey snapped back. The meeting time was supposed to be at nine A.M sharp, and Chloe and Aubrey had already been waiting for half an hour already and not a soul had shown up, except for a stupid squirrel with a bent tail.

It wasn't Aubrey's cup of tea to doubt herself. She was just so arrogant that she believed she was immune to errors, even the most unimportant ones. Knowing that Chloe wouldn't stop being herself and making positive assumptions in the situation if she didn't act on it, Aubrey reluctantly turned on her phone to re-check the group message she had sent to this year's new recruits last week, which only served to enrage her more when it was crystal clear to her justification.

_"Good morning and congratulations! You've successfully made it through the auditions! There will be a courtesy call on Thursday (next week), at 9:00 A.M. sharp at the quad. We'll explain the mechanics for your Bella initiation then. See you!... ~Aubrey Posen"_

"Come on, Chloe. Let's go back to the Bella Quarters. Maybe they at least had enough sense to go there," Aubrey huffed, getting up and stalking off with Chloe in tow.

Aubrey's heels clicked loudly as she stormed toward the Quarters, steam practically shooting from her ears. _How dare they do this to me!_ She thought murderously, her anger level rising higher and higher as they neared the doors. She shoved them open to find the seven newest recruits sitting silently on the couches. She glared at the girls for a while, staring each and every one down until they bowed their heads until she finally lost her temper.

"I swear to the Aca-gods that this is one of the single most disappointing things I have ever seen before in my life! You entered the sacred Bella Quarters without _ANYONE'S_ invitation, let alone permission! And on top of that, you all get a double strike for not showing up at the quad today! Even my _iPhone's_ auto-correct knows that '_quarters_' and '_quadrangle_' are defined differently!" She said in an almost dead calm tone, still reining in some of her fiery hot fury.

Just as Aubrey finished her little rant, a slow, sarcastic clapping echoed throughout the Quarters as the sound of clicking heels came closer. A voice so familiar to both Aubrey and Chloe spoke up from behind them.

"Spoken like a true lawyer...I'm impressed."

Aubrey's eyes went wide as soon as the pieces clicked into place in her head as to who it was that had just intruded on their meeting. Slowly, she turned around, swallowing hard.

"Really, Aubrey, I'm impressed," the young woman said, a pearly white smile on her flawless face.

"What the hell are you doing here, Regine?" Aubrey snapped at the woman as she approached them. Her long blonde hair fell to her elbows in curls and her eyes were a familiar shade of lime green that dazzled in the lights. The only difference between her and Aubrey was that she was a couple inches taller, and everyone noticed.

Regine smiled bitingly at her before brushing her fingers patronizingly through Aubrey's hair. "Aww, is that the way you greet your older sister now?"

Aubrey scowled and pulled away from her twining fingers, hating the way she always did something to demean her around other people. "You don't have business here... Not anymore."

"Oh, but I do, little sister," Regine grinned, cruising around the wide-eyed recruits. "You see, Aubrey, Father was so disappointed with your little exhibition at Lincoln Center a couple months ago. What was it he called you?" She asked herself rhetorically, tapping her chin as if she were actually thinking before smirking at her, "_Throw_-_up Posen_?"

Aubrey was burning holes in Regine's head with her furious glare. "You're lying! He would never say that!"

"You're right; He would never. I was the one who named you that," she winked mockingly as she sat on the couch with the new girls. "You see, Sissy, the Bellas had won four consecutive ICCA championships before your little '_showstopper_' cut off the record.

"This is supposed to be your second year of holding the Pitch-Pipe, yeah? And I'm making sure that firstly," she raised her index finger, "You will not have one more puke session until Nationals. Secondly," she raised another finger, "The Bellas claim the overall victory again over the Trebles and everyone else. It's a double win for the Posen name." She smiled and sat up straighter, sporting the confidence she had in herself.

Aubrey's fists began shaking in anger as she stared down her older sister. "The Bella code clearly states that no alumnus shall-"

Regine cut her off as she abruptly stood up. "The Bella code approves intervention of any alumnus in case that the honor and poise of the Bellas are in jeopardy." She came a little closer to Aubrey, her patient facade falling away ever so slowly. "The Bellas are already linked to my name, thanks to the year-by-year ICCA sweep they did under my Pitch-Pipe. You saw first-hand how proud and happy Father was of my accomplishments. You also saw his face when you barely made it into the finals," she said, metaphorically punching Aubrey in the stomach when she hit that sore spot, "And then you came home with no trophy," another blow to her gut, "And a chyme stain on your blouse." _KNOCKOUT_.

"But don't worry, Sissy. This year will be a smash! It'll be the comeback that everyone in New York will remember! Father will not be disappointed again. That's what I'm doing, little sister: saving your little white ass, making sure it still deserves to spell _Posen_. You should be grateful." She grinned mockingly at Aubrey and began walking off. "For now, all of you, sit back and relax. When I come back in a bit, I'm bringing you your ticket to Nationals," she called over her shoulder just as she closed the door behind her.

Aubrey grunted in frustration, glowering at the door even after Regine had left. Chloe walked over to her to help calm her nerves, because if she got too worked up she might trigger her gag reflex.

"Um, Aubrey?" A small, feminine voice called from behind them. "Hi, I'm Ashley, - one of the new ones."

Chloe beamed at the dark-haired freshman. "Hello, Ashley!"

"I just want to apologize, on behalf of all of us, for not showing up at the quad earlier, like we were supposed to. It's just that, Regine was so intimidating. She was there at this year's audition. She was watching secretly, from the back of the room. And then right after you guys left the theater, she charged into the holding room and introduced herself," Ashley confessed, her eyes tearing up a little.

"WHAT?!" Aubrey shouted, eyes widening as she processed the new information. "That _bitch_!"

"And then, Regine started rubbing how much stronger her authority was over yours in our faces. She told us that we'll receive an SMS from you some time that week, congratulating us for passing the auditions and inviting us to come over to the quad for the briefing...'_tradition_ _holds it_,' as Regine put it.

"Some of us new girls were already walking to the quad this morning despite her threats, but she knew just where to block us off and how to coax us into going to the Bella Quarters instead, as she ordered us to do last week. I'm so sorry, Aubrey, Chloe. One of us should've told you ahead of time... I should've told you ahead of time," she added softly, frowning as she looked down. It was like she was imposing humiliation on herself for siding with the wrong person.

Chloe put her hands on Ashley's shoulder, smiling gently to try and comfort her. "Aww, Ashley! That was so noble of you to take the blame for everyone else, but really, it wasn't your fault. Aubrey and I were under Regine's wrath for two whole years before she graduated. We know perfectly well how deadly her ways can be." She smile sweetly at the younger girl. "Is there anything else that we should know?"

Pursing her lips, Ashley slowly nodded. "Um, she did talk to me privately after her little speech at the holding room last week."

Aubrey and Chloe exchanged looks, each wondering what Regine might be up to for doing something like that. "What did she tell you, Ashley?" Aubrey questioned.

Ashley took a deep breath, as if to calm her nerves, before continuing. "She wanted to know how I was related to-"

The front door of the Bella Quarters flew open, startling everyone in the room as loud, arguing voices echoed from it.

"I already told you, I DON'T WANT TO DO IT! Let go of me!" The girl, whose wrist was enveloped in Regine's vice-like grip, yelled.

Everyone was still and silent by the odd duo's entrance scene, each one staring at the front door from their respective stances.

Apparently, the tall blonde had been dragging the poor girl all the way to the Quarters, as the other girl kept on attempting to pull her arm away, desperate to free herself from Regine. "You aren't the boss of me! Let go of my hand, Reno!"

"It's Regine! My name is Regine," the blonde snapped back, anger finally flashing in her green eyes. "Calm down, Tiger, We're here."

The other girl just stood behind her, silently busying herself with the task of wrenching Regine's tanned fingers off of her wrist.

Regine held her chin up as if in triumph before Aubrey and the rest of the girls. "Ladies, let us welcome, another new Bella!" She announced, dragging the girl in front of herself before finally releasing her hold. The girl stood before the Bellas, her eyes wide open and her lips slightly apart in shock. She didn't say anything and instead, stared back into the eyes that were confusingly studying her.

"She is going to lead the Bellas during this academic year... performance-to-performance, competition-to-competition," Regine introduced, casting a smug glance at Aubrey.

"Oh hell no! I am not going to! In fact, I am refusing my _so-called_ right to be a Bella!" The girl shouted back at Regine. "A cappella shit is not my thing, and-,"

"But music _is_," Regine interrupted, placing a finger on her mouth. "Music is your forte. You are not walking away from this."

The girl shot her eyebrows upward in reaction to Regine's bossy nature. "Well , sorry to disappoint you, but this would be me, walking away." She gestured to the front door and started walking towards it when Regine grabbed her by her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

"You are going to help... them... win. I know so." Regine told her with conviction, her eyes flashing.

"Bitch, I'm disgusted by the mere thought of belonging to anything! What makes you think I would be so eager to _help... them... win_?" The girl spoke, quoting the last three words exactly the way Regine delivered it.

"Because _Gregory, The Shit_ is a Treblemaker now, so this will be your perfect chance to avenge yourself; _to pull him back to mud and show him he ain't got a quarter of your skill,_" Regine said, casting a pervy smile at the girl, knowing that by her statement and the even more stunned look in the girl's face, she just won the argument.

The girl couldn't be more baffled by the things that Regine knew. "He goes here?" She confusingly asked.

"Obviously, he does," Regine muttered, letting her go when she stopped struggling. "And what would be _more satisfying_ to your ego, than holding the opportunity in your hands to beat his ass up during your entire four-year stay here at Barden, right?"

The other girls inside the Quarters were still stunned into silence by the couches. They were listening curiously to the two girls as they talked to each other. Aubrey looked over at Chloe to see what she was feeling about all these shenanigans, only to realize that the redhead was sporting the most shocked face out of everyone. Aubrey smirked at this, liking the fact that her best friend wanted her to keep their hold on the Pitch-Pipe just as much as she does.

"I tell you this, kid." Regine stepped closer to the girl. "You help these girls win, and you kick _Gregory, The Shit_ off his game. I heard that Bumper considers him as his new gem."

"Gem?! He'll be more like a vertically striped top on an overweight chick! A damn goldbrick!" The girl scoffed.

Regine smirked and chuckled at her. "That's the spirit!"

The tall blonde turned to the door, ready to leave.

Aubrey grabbed the final chance to have her say on the matter. "Regine, you can't do this to me! I am _not_ going to be replaced by some-,"

"Little sis, just get over it. You can thank me after you win the ICCA's." She winked at the younger blonde before exiting the Quarters.

Aubrey's face became a deep shade of red as her fury was once again ignited. She needed to release all the pent up pressure, anger, and frustration. She bolted up the stairs and into the veranda to get some air. She needed time to figure things out. Chloe followed shortly after her with the purpose of making sure Aubrey didn't end up doing something stupid.

The recruits were left with the girl Regine brought in, silence and awkward eye-to-eye contacts being exchanged all over the place.

"So...What happens now?" Stacie, a tall brunette freshman in a scandalously revealing outfit, questioned as she stood up from the couch and crossed her arms.

The odd girl paced up and down the couches, taking deep breaths every now and then. Making up her mind, she faced the recruits with her hands proudly resting on her hips. "Okay then, so I guess I'm a Bella. Let me properly introduce myself," she said calmly, although at the same time, her face displayed a new sense of authority.

"My name is Beca Mitchell, and I'll be your new _Head Bitch_."

* * *

Chloe sat at the veranda, quietly watching Aubrey as she walked back and forth in front of her while her head burned like _Disney's_ version of Hades. She knew that silence was the best as initial step in handling a furious Posen; thank goodness, six years of close friendship had trained her perfectly for times like this.

There were only two things that might happen in her best friend's moments of rage (as experience had made Chloe realize), and both involved Aubrey opening her mouth. Silence had usually done the job, steering to the less gruesome course, _most_ of the time. She took her chances with it anyway. Who knows? Maybe this time it'll work.

Six years of having Aubrey's back gave Chloe enough evidence to safely conclude that immeasurable rage is a perfect trigger for her gag reflex. Luckily, Chloe found the plastic bag that she was supposed to use (when she was supposed to be in charge of cleaning the Quarters last night) lying lazily and empty along the hallway on the second floor. She picked it up along with a bottle of water before heading to the veranda a couple of minutes ago… _just in case_.

The redhead chilled in her seat, waiting for Aubrey's signal of whining about how ugly her stomach's growling was.

_Oh, this is going to be_so_messy this time_, she thought to herself as she shook her head.

She heaved a sigh of relief when at long last of pacing up and down, Aubrey spoke. And when she spoke, it was like a floodgate had been opened.

"How could she do that?! She's an alumnus; she shouldn't have any business here at all!

"You just wait 'til I tell dad about this. You just wait, Regine. You just _fucking_ wait.

"I am so not letting that stupid freshman take over! Not in my senior year!

"What an aca-disaster!

"I am so screwing you over! You fucking remember that!"

Chloe rolled her eyes at Aubrey's declamation. _Well, at least it's the ranting and not the puking_, Chloe reasoned to herself mentally.

"Who are you talking to?" Chloe rhetorically asked. She already knew the answer, she just needed some sort of an entrance statement to dive into Aubrey's monologue.

With her brows still furrowed in anger and her teeth bared, Aubrey illogically addressed Chloe's inquiry apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't mean to take this out on you." She immediately turned around to face the panorama and shouted, "I am so screwing you over, Regine! _You! Fucking! Remember! That!_"

Aubrey panted, exhausted after her final rant.

_Phase two: devious planning_, Chloe thought to herself.

"How are you going to do that?" Chloe inquired, this time being serious about getting a sensible answer from the cooling blonde.

Aubrey turned to the coffee table where Chloe leaned in, seeming interested. "Obviously I cannot get my nails near her perfect skin and scrape her layer by layer 'til she's done and so wasted that even the scavenger crows won't feed off of her." She smirked, her eyes squinting in determination. "First things first, I'll be attacking her little brunette dog."

Chloe's brows shot upward upon hearing her words. "Who? Beca?"

Aubrey has this impressive ability to come up with well thought-of devious plans of vengeance. All that had stepped on her ended up kneeling before her, begging for mercy. Chloe knew all about it, but some part of her restrained herself from feeling worried about Beca being Aubrey's new target.

"Good luck on that, Bree," Chloe scoffed.

Aubrey's jaw dropped. "You know her name?" She asked in disbelief. When Chloe didn't respond immediately, she followed up. "Who the fuck is she?! What does she really do? _How do I know she's not a scam artist on parole?!_"

The redhead was caught bug-eyed by Aubrey's speculations, simply responding, "I met her four days ago. That's why when Regine pulled her inside the Quarters earlier I was so shocked. I just didn't see it coming, that's all."

Aubrey was silent for a while, obviously trying to process all the new pieces of information. So that explained Chloe's face back at the couches. It wasn't because her best friend was disappointed about her getting replaced as Captain, but because she knew the brunette from somewhere else and that coincidence amazed her. The blonde started walking out of the veranda and back into the Quarters without saying a word.

"Whoa. Aubrey, where are you going?" Chloe asked.

Aubrey continued on parading down the hallway away from the veranda. "Getting the answers I demand elsewhere, obviously! That little brunette dog will see its end without getting hold of my Pitch-Pipe!" She declared without taking time to pause and face the redhead.

Chloe watched from her seat as the blonde marched off along the hallway and disappeared into her bedroom.

_Answers,_she thought, staring at the door._I need answers too._

* * *

Jesse looked at his wrist watch to check the time.

_3:22 pm_, it read.

He glanced around searching for a face, only to get disappointed. His untouched cup of mint tea started to cool as he strived to loosen up his reins on his definition of 'promptitude.' Still, Jesse considered the other possibilities: _maybe she sprained her ankle along the way; maybe she just learned that her headphones earned cat scratches all over; maybe she saw David Guetta loitering around the quad; maybe that SMS was meant for another person; maybe her message said 4pm, not 3, and he just misread it; her message said Saturday, not Friday, and maybe he just misread it..._ He paused, coming to a realization, as the last five words echoed in his head, - _Maybe he just misread it._

Bug-eyed, Jesse rapidly searched the pockets of his pants for his phone.

_"Jesse Swansonnn! Vyecertt Cafe! 3:00 pm today! DON'T YOU DARE BE LATE! [received at 2:28pm]"_

Jesse clenched his fists upon confirming that he misread nothing.

With one final deep breath, Jesse forced his will to let him get up on his feet and leave. He held his now cold mint tea and started nursing it as he headed for the cafe's glass doors. Successfully making it a foot away from the seat he occupied seconds ago, Jesse felt a hand grab him by the elbow, stopping his pace.

"Jesse!" The voice behind him whisper-yelled.

Immediately realizing who it belonged to, Jesse whined, "Oh finally! You know Beca, you should get yourself a new _Rolex_, as that one you're wearing apparently is over twenty minutes late!"

"Sorry Jess, I was sort of doing some undercover work from that seat." She gestured to the booth near the cafe's counter with a few pages of newspaper and a cup of iced coffee on it. "I was making sure you weren't followed." Beca squinted and suspiciously wandered her eyes around them, as if scanning the area. She chuckled sheepishly as Jesse glared at her.

"Becs, have you totally lost your mind?! What the hell are you talking about?" Jesse spoke, his voice vibrating with irritation. "And take off those silly glasses!"

Beca removed the _"2009"_ New Year merchandise that she wore for her self-proclaimed _undercover work_. "I'd like to think of it that way, Jess, but no, I'm completely myself today. It's just that, as it does ninety percent of the time, life is throwing stones at me as its favorite expression of disdain."

The dark blue eyes that were looking to his own communicated sincerity, befuddling Jesse's already confused head even more. _How can she be fooling around and seem serious at the same time?_ Jesse thought. He shook his head. "Re-orient me, Becs. Start from the top." He walked back to his table and settled down as Beca came to sit down across from him.

"Okay," she began while Jesse finally took the effort to sip from his cup. "I knew you'd be early, as you always are, so I occupied that table at exactly 2:40pm, - right after I bought a drink. I grabbed some newspaper from the stand and wore my 2009 glasses for disguise. I was waiting for you to come in, and when you did at 3:00pm, I inspected the perimeter from my seat, looking for hidden cameras, lapel microphones, potential accomplices, hand signals, suspicious exchange of looks, and-"

"Hey, hey, hey. Becs, you're not making any sense. What is all this, huh? Is this a new entry on your bucket list that you haven't told me?" Jesse threw her an estranged look.

She leaned in to the table before signalling for Jesse to do the same. When he did, she positioned her head close beside his before whispering, "Jesse, I think I'm being _Punk'd_."

Jesse immediately pulled back, his brows furrowed in skepticism of the brunette's claim. He ran out of ideas as to what his best friend was trying to get to. Believing that snapping her out of her fantasy would only make matters more difficult, he tried to play along. "And what makes you think that?"

Beca leaned back to her chair. "I sent a couple of my mixes to MTV's _Give It a Spin_ last month. Maybe they found my stuff awesome, did a background check on me, bla bla bla, decided to get me _Punk'd_ first before featuring me on the show… I don't know."

Jesse stared blank at the girl, having enough of her nonsense. "I had to make up an embarrassing excuse to get out of Treble rehearsals just to hear you daydream?"

"Speaking of which…" Beca immediately stood up, reached across the table, and smashed the palm of her left hand against Jesse's head, ruining the mohawk that he wax-styled his hair after.

"Ow! Beca! What was that for?" Jesse gently rubbed circles on top of his head, trying to alleviate the pain that Beca's hand had caused.

"That one was for not telling me that _Gregory, The Shit_ got into the Trebles!" She growled, returning to her seat. The playful aura she had two seconds ago, which Jesse found so unusual, was gone. By the mention of Gregory, Beca retreated to her usual sense – much to Jesse's confusion.

Jesse shot his brows skyward while his face morphed into a deadpanned expression. "That's it? I get a pain rank of eight for not caring to spill to you that your long-time nemesis Gregory Haull is a Barden student and, oh! A Treble like me!"

Beca raised an eyebrow, which Jesse interpreted as her expression of "Yes, bitch. That would be it."

"Why would I do that, anyway?" Jesse continued. "You would've turned him into an overused punching bag like you almost did at the resort last Sunday if I had told you!" He spoke more when he only got a half-glare response from his best friend. "You and your hunger for retaliation… Why was it so impor-,"

"Rebeca! Ohmigod, thank goodness you're here too!" Ashley pulled a chair and sat at their table, facing Beca.

Jesse froze stunned at the girl's intrusion. "Ash-Ash?"

Ashley shifted shortly from her position to acknowledge his presence. "Hey, Jesse." She shifted her seat favoring Beca's side again, and began talking fast. "Rebeca, I am so sorry about all this. I've been trying to reach you through Jess so I could check on you. Regine talked to me in private on the day of my Bella audition and she asked me about how I am related to you in any way and, well, I told-,"

"Wait, slow down," Beca calmed her cousin. "First of all, I go by _'Beca'_ now, Ash." She chuckled. "And second, how the hell did Regine know about our connection?"

"I don't know, Beca. She just asked right away. Of course, I told her that you're my cousin. I didn't know back then of her hidden agenda. She also asked me for confirmation of you doing mixes, of you also going here at this university, of your bad business with Gregory Haull-,"

"Ashley!" Beca exclaimed, astounded by the revelations. It turned out that Ashley was the missing piece to the puzzle.

"I'm sorry!" Ashley replied. "The whole conversation was like a game of _give-me-honest-answers-or-you'll-die_! How she knew stuff like that about you, I have no idea of. I regretted giving her any information right after she left. Since then, I've been wanting to check on you; if a _blonde-ster_ had already crossed your path, a-and also to warn you ahead of time."

Jesse took the effort to chime in, "Hey, girls. See, I'm kind of lost, here. Would you please…" He gestured them to elaborate more on the matter.

Beca took a deep breath. "Jess, remember that blondie at the resort who insisted on buying me a lot of whiskey shots?"

Jesse beamed at the memory. "Oh yeah! The gorgeous, tall blonde from the party! Yea, I think she's-,"

Beca slapped Jesse's hand which rested on the table. "Jess! Keep up on me with this!"

"Sorry, Becs." He resorted to drinking his mint tea to keep himself from interrupting again.

"Her name is Regine Posen," Ashley told him.

"And she tried to bribe me to get into the Bellas so I can use my _'musical talents'_ and lead the team to championships." Beca rolled her eyes.

Jesse spit his tea after hearing her. "You? Beca Mitchell? Doing a cappella?" He cracked up laughing, only to be met by Ashley and Beca's blank faces. "Oh god, Becs, that joke will be the death of me!"

Realizing that the girls started burning holes in his head with their annoyed stares, Jesse went quiet.

Beca narrated how Regine Posen forced her into leading the Bellas. "I was about to go out that door when she mentioned _Gregory, The Shit_. And take note, she addressed him as _Gregory, The Shit_; not Greg, not Haull, but by the alias I gave that little shit. That wasn't what stopped me completely, though. Regine quoted my famous motto, too: _to pull him back_-,"

"_Back to mud and show him he ain't got a quarter of your skill,_" Jesse finished off the statement.

Beca simply nodded as she took a deep breath.

Ashley took the chance to apologize sincerely to Beca, "Beca, I'm really sorry. Regine got that info from me. I'm so sorry."

Beca glared at her cousin. "Ash-Ash, you owe me one."

"Okay." Ashley looked down, embarrassed with herself.

Beca, Jesse, and Ashley had known Gregory Haull since middle school. A standard bully, Gregory had always picked on the trio as they ate together at lunch or whenever they chilled out after classes listening to Beca's _Walkman_. Beca has always been the one to put up a fight against the bully, especially whenever Ashley ended up in tears because of him. When Jesse transferred to another school before ninth grade, Beca and Ashley continued sticking up for each other. But then Ashley had to move to another state because her mom re-married, leaving Beca to spend the remaining three years of high school completely alone. Well, technically, she wasn't _completely_ left alone; Gregory Haull remained as Beca's favourite pet peeve about school until senior year.

Ashley glanced at her watch, eyes widening when she saw the time. "Oh gosh! Beca, we better get going. Aubrey's starting the orientation and the tour of the Quarters in about ten minutes."

"Ash, I'm the Head Bitch!" Beca arrogantly reminded her, a smug smirk on her face. "You guys listen to me, from here on out."

Ashley's eyes communicated her fear and worries. "But Beca, Aubrey denied it in front of us yesterday after you left the Quarters. I've nothing against you being Head Bitch, but you need to make it official with her."

"I can do that." Beca smirked. "No one steps on Beca Mitchell."

"Becs, you're actually caving in to Regine's stratagem?" Jesse chimed in, his brow creased in confusion.

"Jess, it's not a stratagem; it's an opportunity – for me. I'm one of the Bellas now. If _Gregory, The Shit_ is your new gem, then I am theirs," Beca said. "I'll have my sweet payback, at long last. Now, if you'll excuse me," Beca stood up from her seat. "I have to call Jackson for the info on my next gig," she said as she began walking away. Giving Jesse one last little wave, Ashley got up and followed her.


	3. Chapter 3: Pocketful of Shit

**_A/N. (I don't own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind the movie Pitch Perfect.) =Leave reviews and I'll love you forever. SPECIAL THANKS TO TheFlameRose FOR BETA-ING THIS CHAPTER!_**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Pocketful of Shit**

Chloe took off running to the Bella Quarters as soon as her Oncology professor dismissed the class for the rest of the day. For two hours straight her phone buzzed in her pocket, making her last class of the day much less enjoyable than it normally was.

_"Chloe! Get to the Quarters right now! Emergency Bella meeting! ~ Aubrey Posen"_

_"Emergency Bella meeting at the Quarters... I'll start it exactly at 3:45pm. ~ Aubrey Posen [group message]"_

_"Chlo! Where are you? Help me out here! ~ Aubrey Posen"_

_"Chloooooooooooo! =(((( Co-capt? =D Please? :3 ~ Aubrey Posen"_

A few more messages like those, and a swarm of missed calls overloaded Chloe's phone.

"Repeating letters, smileys, emoticons? Aubrey, really?" Chloe mumbled under her breath in disbelief. As her polar opposite, Aubrey was never keen of informal texting… Not unless she was growing desperate of wheedling the redhead. As for what Aubrey might be up to, Chloe had no clue.

Her feet were aching as she made her way out of the building, every once and a while blurting out an, "Oops! Sorry," to the annoyed students she bumbed into as she hurried past all the busy college kids crowding up the corridors. For whatever it is that Aubrey wants, she'll be damned if she doesn't get there in time. Already panting, Chloe heaved a heavy sigh as the multi-level Bella Quarters came in sight from a distance._Just...A few...More...Steps,_she motivated herself.

Chloe has always admired the way the Quarters flickered in colors of baby pink and peach from the outside. She must admit though, it could really use a makeover; a transformation to a more modern interior design would give it a lot of edge from the other houses. The program Chloe's enrolled in would shrink her to the stereotype of nerds and science geeks, but other than her brain and her big _MD_ dreams, her vast sense of artistry and creativity bring out the best in her.

Right. Even at the breaking point of exhaustion, Chloe had managed to ponder about how the porch should be changed to a higher class of wood, how (again) the colors should speak more of the Bellas, how the lawn should be friendlier to guests... don't get her started on what needs to be modified on the inside of the mansion. _Mansion._Right. Technically speaking, though devalued as _'quarters'_, it already qualifies as a mansion. In terms of land area and main purpose, the Bella Quarters can uphold its right to be named as a large place of dwelling.

Since Aubrey and her had joined the Bellas on their freshman year, Chloe had gradually dropped in entries of suggestions into her box of _stuff-that's-going-to-change-when-the-time-comes_. And when Aubrey became captain last year, she couldn't be more eager to make those metamorphosis ideas turn into reality. She already had a notebook organized into weekly schedules of renovation, and had prepared a presentation of her proposal by the beginning of Aubrey's term as Captain.

But, well, Aubrey was Aubrey. Thus, _her ideas_remained_ideas_.

Handpicked by Aubrey herself as co-captain, Chloe tried to start some of the changes herself little by little, - using her supposed authority. The farthest she got to, was the re-grouting of the tiles at the garden, for Aubrey and her tight reins on whatever tradition holds, tarried.

When Chloe opened the front door of the Quarters, a glaring Aubrey welcomed her; like a bull waiting for its timely attack, the blonde folded her arms in front of Chloe, giving all her impatience on her stare. Chloe scanned the tan, leather couches that rested at the center of the foyer, ending up feeling glad that none of the new ones (including Beca) had gone earlier than she did.

"Well, look at that," Chloe said, still panting. "Looks like I'm an early bird!"

Aubrey rolled her eyes as she grabbed the redhead's hand and led her to sit on the couches. "Operation: Impeachment is on," She told Chloe.

"Bree, what are you talking about?"

"I have the Pitch-Pipe and it will remain mine until our senior year ends… Until my term as Captain ends." Aubrey said, determined in her mission. Before she could shed more light on the subject, the front door flew open, revealing the new Bellas rushing in as one group.

Aubrey and Chloe stood and gestured for the girls to settle down so that they could start. Being the very definition of promptitude, Aubrey started on the accounts of the meeting as soon as they had made themselves comfortable in their seats. The conference hadn't even reached the ten-minute mark when the front door busted open once more, interrupting Aubrey in her endless and pointless introduction. By the very sound of it opening aggressively, Chloe sighed. "This is why the couches shouldn't be right next to the gigantic main door in the foyer," Chloe whispered to herself.

The swiping motion of the door uncloaked the interruption as none other than: Beca. "Okay, maybe the couches should stay at the foyer," Chloe thought to herself, apparently beaming at the sight of Beca.

"Ashley!" Beca called out. Ignoring the clumping that the girls had formed in support of Aubrey's agenda, Beca charged right past Aubrey and Chloe and towards her cousin, who sat dumbfounded beside Stacie and Jessica (another new Bella). "Ash-Ash! Thank goodness you're here. I forgot to ask you about some-,"

"Aca-scuse me?" Aubrey called Beca's attention.

"Aca-fuck off," Beca replied in her intention of a harmless jest. She breathed in, preparing to continue her conversation with Ashley when the tall blonde pulled her away by her arm, her deep blue eyes ending up meeting Aubrey's flashy green ones.

"Okay, now I'm going to mean it: aca-fuck off!" Beca said, her tone raising on a certain level of seriousness.

Aubrey narrowed her eyes. "I am still the Bella Captain. You got that, little dog?" She retorted.

Beca did what she's best at: rolling her eyes. "I prefer the title _'little bitch',_m'lady." This didn't go over well with Aubrey.

The girls fought verbally over authority while the rest of the Bellas (including Chloe, who decided to sit alongside the newbies) waited for _World War 3_ to resolve by itself. They sat still at the couches, each engaging in a distracting side-activity by themselves.

Stacie spent the minutes fondling her nails, tracing tracks along the edges as to where she thinks a nail file should run on back and forth. Jessica looked anywhere but them as she gazed around the quarters. From the dusty ceiling and the faded floral paintings on the walls, to the cobwebs settling around the chandelier that hang at the foyer, she smiled at the thought of _'what it might have looked like back in time'_. Ashley was leaning in, her face buried in her hands as her expression of "_Oh no Beca, not again._" Another new recruit, Cynthia Rose, had her chin resting on the palms of her hands, her elbows propped upon her knees. She threw occasional smirks, apparently taking pleasure in watching Aubrey and Beca as they played paintball of offensive remarks.

_And Chloe_… Oh Chloe was doing pretty much as Cynthia Rose, - staring ahead and silently taking pleasure. Unlike the African-American freshman though, Chloe wasn't in it for the mere entertainment. Her electric blue eyes stared at the arguing girls, focusing particularly on the short girl that Aubrey kept trying to dominate over. At first, the redhead was actually listening to their arguments, keeping track of where the conversation (or game of insulting, as she would loosely translate it to) led to, but after a minute or two, she found herself just staring at them - the dialogue growing inaudible in her head, and their body gestures throwing in slow motion.

_But are you really just, - staring?_The voice in Chloe's head questioned her.

Aubrey flashed like burning Hades again through Chloe's eyes, while the brunette, - she was loaded with sparkles in the redhead's sight. The perfect shade of her auburn hair, which glowed in a crisp palette of brown and bronze, mesmerized Chloe. The way it dangled freely, the layered tips ending just past Beca's shoulders, the way it waved outward and vaguely in big semi-curls, it all held Chloe captured under a spell.

Beca Mitchell's pale white skin seemed to belong to that of an anemic person (as Chloe compared so), but the thick eyeliner that fenced the dark blue eyes, the black nail polish, the conch, helix and industrial piercings, and the fairly-red lipstick all compensated for it. This magnificence is what Chloe sees behind Beca's sarcasm and wit.

And for the record, _she likes what she sees_.

With that quick realization, Chloe answered the internal voice, "No, not just staring. It is way more than that," She thought to herself. "It's admiration."

"Chloe and I have been Bellas for three years now. Your fucking rookie ass shouldn't have any administrative function!" Aubrey yelled at Beca, practically foaming at the mouth. With that remark, Chloe snapped out of her trance. She shook her head trying to catch up on the two arguing girls. She rolled her eyes upon realizing that nothing changed since she slipped off tracking along with their conversation; everything was still about dominance.

"Now if you'll excuse me, Legally Blonde, I'd like to privately speak with Ashley," Beca sardonically told Aubrey before walking to the couches to take hold of Ashley's wrist.

As Beca dragged Ashley towards the front door, Aubrey mockingly interrupted them. "And you think you even have a pint of the right to steal away that Bella from me, huh?"

Beca didn't turn to face the blonde, and instead continued on walking to the door. "Uh-huh. Ashley is my cousin." She turned the knob and swung the door open before finally facing Aubrey. "Father side, by the way." After casting a deriding wink at the tall blonde, Beca, together with her cousin, disappeared from the foyer.

With the main door slamming shut, Aubrey snorted and walked out without saying a word. It was a tough verbal fight with Beca. The last time she had such intense reasoning with anyone was back in high school, - during an inter-level debate, by which Aubrey lost her famous _head-held-up-high_ finesse against a freely competitive wit. Of course, Aubrey won with her argument. The freshman she intimidated though, ended up emotionally traumatized. And now, the tall blonde locked herself upstairs in her room, afraid to lose what was of her self-control.

The Bellas that were left in the foyer were all wide-eyed at the new revelation. Who would have known Ashley was Beca's cousin. The dark haired girl hadn't mentioned having anything to do with Beca to anyone. Deciding it was time to kill the awkward silence in the atmosphere, Chloe got up from the couch and stood before the freshmen.

"Okay. Well, that was enough action for today," Chloe said. "Let's just have a tour of the Quarters, shall we?" She threw a sweet smile, hoping to whip the other girls' moods around.

* * *

"Beca, what is it?" Ashley inquired as they settled at the porch.

The brunette breathed deeply before starting to talk. "First of all, I'm sorry, for the little show back there, Ash." Being a few inches shorter than her cousin, Beca raised her sight to meet Ashley's. "I forgot to ask, when we were at _Vyecertt's_ earlier, about dorm-living."

Ashley furrowed her brows in confusion. "Dorm-living? Wait, you're over at Uncle Seb's still? Beca that's like… thirty minutes away from Barden!"

"Forty, actually." Beca corrected. "Anyway, it won't be long. Dad will only allow me to live in campus if I'll be with someone who he can trust to watch over me. And, you'll watch over me, right?" Beca wore a big bright smile in an attempt of coaxing her cousin. "I had your ass all throughout middle school."

Beca raised her left hand, with her index and middle fingers crossed together. "_Heyya mah sistah!_" She greeted enthusiastically, making the taller girl grunt in vexation.

Back in middle school, it was Ashley's favorite expression (much to Beca's annoyance). She used it on everybody, regardless of the gender.

With her brows still on the curves of uncertainty, she spoke, "Sure thing, dear-cousin-slash-savior-of-my-ass. I'll watch over you, if that's what Uncle Seb wants."

"Great!" Beca replied instantly. "Where's your dorm? I think Jesse told me once that you're over at Baker Hall. What's your room number? Do you have windows? Is your bathroom spacious? I'll have my own desk, right?"

"Slow down there, chap!" Ashley interrupted, her brows raised. "If Uncle Seb wants us to be under one roof, you can't take my old Baker Hall room alone." She chuckled.

"Old? Alone?" Beca asked in bafflement. "What?!"

Ashley slapped a hand to her forehead in disbelief. "Beca, this is why you should attend Bella meetings, orientations, and briefing sessions. You haven't seen the rest of the Quarters aside from the foyer area, have you?"

Beca shook her head.

"It has rooms on the second floor. All Bellas are required to reside in the Quarters. I left Baker Hall this morning. My stuff are already settled upstairs. Don't worry though; it's a rule, _not tradition_." Ashley perfectly knew how her cousin is a big fan of having things her way, so how different is rule from tradition, anyway?

Well, rules are orders imposed upon; tradition is an established pattern of behavior. If Beca opposes rules, that would be just her rebellious spirit. If it's tradition she doesn't follow, she's being her true self, - one who's keen of shaking things up, one who's fond of spicing up the old ways. And unlike most teenagers, Beca leans more on the tradition-breaker side rather than the mutinous camp.

"Beca, you said it yourself, - you're the new Head Bitch… Can't be Head Bitch without being a Bella, right?" She started walking backwards, going near the front door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go back inside to know the details of our Bella initiation rites." She turned to reach for the door knob.

"Live here? With all the Bellas? You mean like a sorority house?!" Beca toned up her voice in disbelief. Just as she thought belonging to an all-girl a cappella group couldn't get more girly, here came another feature from the package.

Ashley raised her right hand, with her index and middle fingers crossed together. "_Latah mah sistah!_" She derided back before returning inside the Quarters.

Beca was dumbfounded, her mouth gaping open unattractively for quite some time. She had imagined living in campus - getting her own personal space away from her father and Sheila, being able to get up from bed thirty minutes before class starts, being able to attend more parties and visit DJ clubs late at night, but she never expected it to be in any way near to living with a bunch of girls, especially one where a certain green-eyed blonde also resides in.

"_There's no way in hell that I am living in this-this mansion,_" She said to herself.

Later that night, Beca decided to go to a club near campus to clear her head. Earlier this afternoon, she was decisive about using the Bellas as her means of getting back at Haull, but right after knowing that the package included living in a mansion together with girls that she doesn't jive along well (in personality and in interest), she began to consider dropping her revenge mission. She had waited so long for the opportunity to humiliate Haull and now that the time came, something took a tight grip at her heel, an annoying hindrance to her attack. Beca loathes having to interact with people; that's just who she is.

Beca sat at the drinks section and was glad that McDowell was on duty. She first met the twenty year old bartender a few months ago while she was hovering over DJ concerts that held mobile bars. As Beca had her first sip of her _Bourbon Lancer_, she saw Gregory Haull near the foot of the stage talking to some other guys. Haull had managed to set his eyes over to Beca's direction, making the brunette throw a flaring glare back at him. Still looking over at the distance, Beca could trace a smirk coming out of Haull's face before he immediately climbed up the empty stage.

The club was famous for not having tenured DJ's that will keep the crowd going every Friday. The stage has the equipment all set up for use, and the lights and laser beams are all at work, but the DJ's spot is always vacant. The management decided on this to help aspiring DJ's practice and show off. Usually, a certain gold-haired, middle-aged guy monopolies the equipment, - the reason why Beca had not yet tried her own skills upstage, but tonight it was empty… well, before Haull got up to it and hang the headphones around his neck.

"Oh, the little boy wants to show off in front of the other kid at the playground, huh? Let's see you play David while I'll be Goliath. This will be fun." Beca scoffed as Haull started out a beat. The brunette took pure entertainment of critiquing every flaw she found on Haull's mix. "Wrong tempo… Bass kicks way too overpowering… Awful use of reverse snare… Lacks floor tom pumps… Flanger too loud… Awkward incorporation of the chorus… Too high sound frequency… No other bass samplers… Over-loop beats too long."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head when Haull received an enthusiastic applause after his set. She watched him as he made his way down from the stage. A couple of other guys mobbed him, apparently singing his praises.

"Idiot ears," Beca muttered. Her eyes widened when two of those idiot ears belonged to a guy so familiar to her: Luke Jackson. "Oh no." Beca got up from her position and sprinted her way to Jackson, who she saw was shaking hands with Haull. As she reached Jackson, Haull was gone; apparently, they were done talking.

The athletic-bodied 25-year-old party organiser beamed at seeing the DJ. "Beca! I didn't notice you around earlier! Listen, I'm cancelling the first three from the gigs I promised you. I mean, they're not cancelled. I uh, just want to give my new guy a shot." The guy looked down as he saw the disappointment in Beca's eyes. "Beca I'm so sorry, I-,"

"No, it's okay. Totally okay," she stopped him.

"Okay, then! See you around!" Jackson walked off as he said, "Hey Greg! Wait up!"

Beca stood still. "Did Haull just fucking steal half of my gigs?" She pondered. "So that was why he got up the stage when he looked over to me! Jackson and his guys sat behind me!" She said to herself as she saw Jackson retreating to sit at a table near the drinks section.

"Haull wasn't showing off to me; he was trying to grab some attention from Luke Jackson!" Beca felt her fists clenching as the urge to break Haull's nose started accelerating, but she realized that physically damaging him wouldn't get her anywhere. "Gregory Haull, you little shit," she muttered before walking out the club.

"I'll deal with what I have to deal with. Your ass will be begging me for mercy by Nationals," Beca said, now fully determined in leading the Bellas. "You just wait, Haull. You just fucking wait."

* * *

Tranquillity ruled the halls of the Bella Quarters as the grandfather clock that stood at the living room ticked 6am. The birds that were a frequent visit to the garden chirped in soft harmony, filling in the silence as the girls slept soundly in their beds. It was a lazy Saturday morning; alarms don't go off yet 'till around ten. The nine women in deep slumber took time in re-energizing, as Friday night defined a lot of meanings for each of them: girls' night out, thesis planning, group study, party crashing… it was that time of the week when their activities of choice spelled _freedom_. Barden University was kind to go easy on Saturday classes for the first semester, rewarding the students full weekend treats. Even Aubrey didn't make the effort of rising up early and working on their ICCA piece. Everyone seemed to be respecting the sanctity of a Saturday morning… well _except for one_.

A chain of sharp whistling sounds echoed throughout the Quarters. The whistle blew non-stop, - the highest amplitude travelling from the foyer to the corridors at the second floor. It buried the ticking of the grandfather clock into muteness, and cruelly drove the birds away from the shades of the trees around. Combined with merciless pounding on the wooden bedroom doors, the disturbance swept everyone away from dreamland, sucking each mind back into actuality, like a black hole forcibly budging everything from place. The half smiles that decorated the faces of the girls while they slept grew into meeting brows, wrinkled noses, and grinding teeth. Sleep shades were put off duty as the nuisance welcomed everyone back to reality.

Following the irritating whistle was the _Easy A_ soundtrack on full-volume shuffle, debuting with Natasha Bedingfield's hit, _Pocketful of Sunshine_. The Quarters vibrated along the bass of the song as the surround sound system distributed the ear-splitting volume from corner to corner.

The five bedrooms flushed empty in an instant as each Bella rushed out from their sheets and out into the corridors to seek the very source of the noise.

"Aubrey, what is this?!" Chloe yelled over to the blonde as they met along the hallway.

"No idea! But we'll find out!" Aubrey shouted back, directing her steps to the living room. The rest of the girls followed behind her, coincidentally paired according to bedroom assignment: Stacie just behind Aubrey, Ashley with Cynthia Rose, Jessica with Denise, Fat Amy with Lilly, and Chloe closing the column by herself.

As they descended the staircase, they were greeted by the familiar piercings and chocolate locks which were behaved tight in a ponytail. The girl held out the stereo remote to finally shift the volume into a comfortable level.

"Good morning ladies!" Beca beamed at the slovenly _just-woke-up_locks at her sight.

"Beca, are you fucking kidding me? It's Saturday morning!" Aubrey yelled over to the freshman. "The last thing anybody in this house wanted was to get disturbed by a rape-whistle and intense knocking!"

"Chillax, Aubrey!" Beca replied with a confident smile, much opposed to her usual angry look every time she argued with the blonde. "As your new Head Bitch, I've got loads of plans for today, and the Saturday after this, and the Saturday after that Saturday… I am designating Saturday mornings as cardio sessions, and boot camp, then at the afternoons, we'll train your vocals."

The nine girls before her stood in silence, apparently not accepting her agenda. Natasha Bedingfield's song continued on resounding, the lyrics being both the definition and the irony of the present situation.

_I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine.__  
__I got a love and I know that it's all mine, oh. Ohhh._  
_Do what you want but you're never gonna break me._  
_Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, no. Ohhh._

For the awakened Bellas, the sunshine was out of sight. Who keeps a smile after waking up horribly, right? But Beca Mitchell wasn't the one to back down on her ways. She was finally claiming territory in front of Aubrey. Like a wolf howling high in the night as it announces its glory over the area, Beca was at long last embracing her task – she was letting everyone know of her place in the Bellas.

"Why don't you girls take a seat while I explain our schedule for today?" Beca politely asked the girls.

Aubrey, with her arms crossed, refused the offer. "No! Say it fast, then go out of this house!"

The rest of the Bellas headed for the couches at the foyer, ignoring Aubrey's pride. Beca smirked at this before gently taking Aubrey's hand - leading her to the couches. Caught off guard, the blonde decided to let it pass and sit along.

"Okay, first matter: Bella initiation rites," Beca began.

"Thank goodness for some sense in you!" Aubrey exclaimed as soon as Beca finished her statement. "And I assume you know nothing of it, so I'll do you a favor by being the one to explain this very significant subject instead." She cast a deriding smile as she positioned herself ready to take the center spot.

The brunette standing before them raised a hand, signalling for Aubrey to pass on the effort. "Petrificus Totalis!"

Baffled, the lime green eyes narrowed as Aubrey's sense tried to process what Beca just said. "What, are you some kind of Romanian-Finnish linguist now?" She scoffed.

Beca mockingly threw a half-smirk. "You don't read fiction, do you?" She chuckled.

Chloe giggled even louder at this, grabbing attention from everyone, most especially Aubrey. Upon realizing that her best friend was already throwing hammers at her through her furious stare, she decided to jump in. "It's a total-body petrification spell from _Harry Potter_, Aubrey, which loosely translates to _'Shut up and behave'_." The redhead turned to face Beca. "It's _Totalus_, by the way… not _Totalis_." She sweetly grinned at the brunette, her bright blue eyes sharing humor with Beca's deep ocean ones.

"Now Aubrey, do we have an agreement?" Beca addressed the now tight-lipped blonde. When Aubrey didn't directly respond to it, the brunette continued on the accounts of the briefing. "Okay back to your initiation rites," she began.

"_Harana_." Beca started hovering around the foyer as she spoke. "Now does anybody in this house know about this word? _Harana?_"

Frowns showed up as the girls acted quizzically. Aubrey, being a big fan of languages, spoke up, "Sounds Asian to me."

"Indeed. Southeast Asian, in particular." Beca paused on her pace as she reached the original spot she stood at: center stage before the couches. "Your Bella initiation would play along the concept of _Harana_… an old Filipino tradition where the bachelor sings a song of love dedicated to the girl he likes. He does so as he stands in front of her house in the evening. It's still practiced by the romantic lads nowadays, but well, not as much as the boys did back in time."

"You want us to sing a song to the person we like?" Cynthia Rose asked in confusion.

Beca's half-smirk painted across her face, her eyes mirroring an obvious ulterior motive that seemed to be resting in her head – yet to be spoken out. "But that would be too easy for you, wouldn't it? Plus, it'll be so identical to that oriental culture." She folded her arms. "Yes, you will be singing to someone. But no, not to the person that you like. As kids of the west, we'll add some modern spice into it. For your initiation, you will go in trios, - singing to any person that you loathe, - any person whose funeral will be your celebratory party."

Forgetting Beca's tight reins on her, Aubrey busted in, "Then, what? You want me and Chloe to judge?"

"What? No! Of course not!" Beca disagreed. Aubrey heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing it.

"You and Chloe will do the _Harana_ assignment, as well. No exceptions." Beca clarified. Before the blonde could protest a sound, Beca continued, "If you look up the original _Harana_, the bachelor always carry along some friends to back him up – either by second voices or by guitar, but since we are an a cappella group, no musical instruments, of course. Plus, we're not talking about one song here. The Bellas should be flipping on a new leaf. It should be a mash-up of at least two songs."

Ashley sheepishly raised a hand to inquire if they were allowed the freedom of choosing their own group mates, - something Beca approved of.

The brunette also clarified that she defined a mash-up as a new mix formed from intertwined songs and had forbidden the girls to end up simply singing one song after the other.

Aubrey finally had the guts to speak her mind. "Beca! It's not called an _initiation_ for nothing. Chloe and I are _so_ not doing this _shit_ of yours. We've been wearing the honorary stamp of being Bellas since we were freshmen."

"Yeah, and you'll be stamped with a new one that says _'ex-Bella'_ if you skip on this," Beca threatened. "I wonder how poor Aubrey Posen would manage seeing greater disappointment in her father's eyes. Moreover, I wonder how she would take the fury that is Regine Posen." She gave the blonde a wry smile, taking pleasure in verbally attacking her. "Although, I'm quite not sure which one's worse for you." She grinned.

"Oh well, girls! I'll be expecting the video footages of your Hate-_Haranas_ by next Saturday. The recipient of the mash-up should be given enough attention in the video." Beca walked over to the stereo to kill the music. Apparently, she had accidentally put Bedingfield's song on repeat.

"Oh and Bellas?" Beca cut off in perfect timing, - stopping the girls from completely dispersing. "The boot camp and vocal strengthening will have to debut next Saturday as well. We'll have a special activity for today," she said while she fixed the CD into its case.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Another pocketful of shit from you, dear Head Bitch?" She scoffed.

Beca beamed upon hearing her words. Though half-meant, Aubrey's recognition of her as Head Bitch made her morning. "Funny term, Aubrey."

The brunette turned to face the girls. "For now, go get that sweet Saturday morning bubble bath. I ordered _Sbarro_ delivery for your breakfast." She glanced at her wrist watch. "It should arrive within the next hour. Don't worry I'll have it ready at the dining table by the time you all finish composing yourselves."

In a blink, Beca was gone. For what she's up to, no one knew. The rest of the Bellas rose to their rooms, preparing for the day. At long last, everyone seemed to be accepting Beca's ways. They were unlikeable, but tolerable. For two whole hours, the girls were busy upstairs dressing up and fustigating about how Beca was such a despicable human being.

Chloe was out of this kind of conversation as she had the room all by herself. Beca's idea of initiation was a bit uncool to her, considering that they'll be singing hate songs in public, but she saw it in another angle: she saw it as a challenging task designed for them to learn and have fun. As a growing habit of hers, she was admiring Beca the whole time she spoke. When their eyes shared the humor of Aubrey's _Harry Potter_ illiteracy, Chloe felt something strike her chest, - not like an aura of impending doom, but something like a flick to her heart resulting from the unexpected tachycardia. When they shared that connection, Chloe remembered the night at the resort, - how her mood lightened up when Beca bought her a drink, how she beamed at her comical mannerism, how she fell head over heels for those deep blue orbs, how her mysteriousness held her by the neck. With Beca's every appearance, Chloe felt herself getting more and more interested.

The Beca she met at the resort doesn't seem to fit alike to the Beca who's now their Head Bitch. There couldn't be two Beca Mitchell's, right? Chloe lived by the wise words that say how everyone has a story to tell, and Beca's is a cross fire of mixed signals, - one clue at the surface serving as a stratagem as it led to another one. This total paradox lured Chloe a lot closer. What is Beca's story?

_Well, I guess that's for me to find out_, Chloe thought again to herself.

* * *

**_A/N._ _So what do you guys think of this chapter? =)_**


	4. Chapter 4: Impending Disaster

_**A/N. **_**_(I don't own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind the movie Pitch Perfect.) _**_**Leave reviews, please! =D SPECIAL THANKS TO TheFlameRose FOR BETA-ING THIS CHAPTER!**_

* * *

**Chapter 4: Impending Disaster**

"Is Beca really that tough?" Cynthia Rose asked in disbelief, her hands in the middle of styling her hair sideways as she sat in front of their vanity mirror.

Ashley laid flat on her bed she stared up at the ceiling, answering as honestly as she could. "Most of the time, yes. Everyone hates her because of that attitude of hers." She rolled onto her stomach and sighed. "Little do any of them know that it's only a part of who my cousin really is... Like a slice of pizza - one small part of the whole," she added, mentally complimenting herself on the fitting metaphor.

Cynthia Rose stopped what she was doing and looked inquiringly at her roommate. "Oh yeah? Then what's the _real_ Beca like?" She asked, her curiosity peaking.

As if she had been waiting for the darker girl to ask, Ashley immediately started blurting out a series of adjectives, enumerating everything she knew about her cousin since back in the day. "She's kind. Playful. Caring. _Super _caring. Sweet. Smart. Carefree. Talented. _Very_ talented."

"Yeah, I get that your cousin's really talented. Since, you know, she was handpicked by Regine Posen and all, right?"

Ashley smiled at Cynthia Rose's remark. She had always been impressed by Beca's amazing skills, whether it be with music or other things. "Yeah… Too bad nobody looks beyond what's on the surface."

"So, you're saying that she poses behind a mask?" Cynthia questioned, her eyebrows rising in disbelief.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. But, she has her reasons for doing the things she does." Ashley scooted over to sit at the edge of her bed, facing Cynthia Rose. "Look, if you're going to try to uncover Beca's other side, I'm not the girl for the job. It's just not my story to tell."

Cynthia Rose chuckled shortly. "No, I just thought… Well, I just thought it was completely impossible for a person to be that bitchy for no reason. Guess I was right, then."

A kind grin bloomed on Ashley's face as she nodded in agreement.

"Come on, Roomie," Cynthia Rose stood up, adjusting her hair one last time before holding out her hand. "Let's go check on Denise and Jessica."

Ashley accepted her invitation graciously and let the bigger girl help her to her feet. She grabbed her silver wool cardigan before exiting the room, glad that now someone else kind of understood Beca other than her.

* * *

"I swear I am going to cut that contemptible midget's fucking head off!" Aubrey, still in her bathrobe, ranted to her fellow Bella as she angrily dried her gold locks with a towel.

Stacie Conrad rolled her eyes for what it seemed like the twelfth time that day. "Aubrey, all you do is whine about Beca, - that's all you've _ever_ done. You think up all these bizarre strategies to murder the girl, and that's it! You know, if you actually start looking around for a pair of scissors instead of just 'swearing to God' to cut off Beca's head, you'd find yourself moving forward."

"Scissors? I was thinking a cudgel! Why are you opting for the less gruesome way of flicking out the tick? Are you a coward?" Aubrey remarked, her tone pretty serious.

"That's all you heard from what I said?!" Stacie replied in disbelief. "I'm on your team here, Aubrey. I despise that midget just as much as everyone else does. Actually if I spot Beca along the highway and I'm coincidentally wearing my high stilettos, I'd pull over and poke her with the heel of my shoe!"

Aubrey cracked out a giggle. "Bizarre. Now, how different are you from me?" She scoffed.

Stacie, being an inch taller than her roommate, narrowed her eyes – meeting the blonde's sight, "I thought I heard about Aubrey Posen being a sturdy warrior. Suddenly, when it comes to Beca, why are you so limited?" She retorted.

"You heard that stupid bitch. She's got my sister. That's a metaphor for handcuffing me. So, don't get too surprised if I'm supressed to just whining about it."

Just as Aubrey finished her sentence, the door flew open without warning, - revealing Chloe. Aubrey crossed her arms across her torso in respect of privacy as she got startled by the action. "Geez, Chlo! There's this little thing called 'knocking' where you bump your knuckles to someone's door, asking permission to get in!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I've seen your tits. Why the fake conservative act?" She derided before acknowledging the presence of Aubrey's roommate. "Hi, Stace!" The redhead regretted blurting out the nickname she decided on as soon as she spoke it. "Wait, is it okay that I called you Stace?"

The tall brunette chuckled. "Of course. It's my legit nickname, anyway. You have to let me call you 'Chlo', though."

Chloe approved of it before turning back to her best friend. "Can you explain why you're still in your robe, Bree?! It's been over two hours!"

Aubrey was about to elaborate but Stacie did the effort quicker. "Two hours of complaining about Beca Mitchell, that is." The redhead needed no more explaining as soon as she got the brunette's statement. Ranting Aubrey can be a heavy-duty ship anchor.

Chloe relayed to the blonde that she had recruited Ashley to be in their trio, - much to Aubrey's dismay.

"But I was already planning on having Stacie with us!" Aubrey whined.

"Aub, it's okay. I already promised Denise and Lilly, anyway." Stacie threw a smile at her roommate before exiting their room.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Aubrey regained her usual arguing self. "What's gotten into you when you picked Beca's cousin?! Foul move, Beale! Foul move."

"Beale? Where did that come from?" Chloe joked.

When Aubrey didn't shoot back like she expected her to, Chloe inquired, "Oh, you're actually waiting for an answer now?" She chuckled. "I just think Ashley's cool, that's all," she lied easily.

Aubrey shot an eyebrow skyward, doubting the redhead. "We've been good friends for many years now. I know when you're hiding something; your hair gets redder. And right now? It's on fire. Cards on the table, Chlo! Or I'll have to juice it out from you."

"Beca's cousin is… um… a good kid. She's… she's…" Chloe bit her lip as she strived hard on making up words.

"A-ha!" Aubrey stood and shot a finger to Chloe. "Stuttering plus lip-biting! You're busted! Speak up, Pinocchio!"

Chloe started running her fingers nervously along the hem of her shirt. She didn't want to break the lie but she grew frustrated as Aubrey will eventually find out sooner or later.

"You like Beca, don't you?" Aubrey spoke low, her eyes becoming a darker shade of green.

"What? No, I was-," Chloe said but was immediately cut off by the blonde. _Too soon, Aubrey._

"You like her! You like Beca! That's why you invited Ashley in, - so you could sneak your way in to her cousin!"

Chloe stayed silent, her cheeks painted in a deep shade of red. "Was I too obvious?" She joked in defeat. That was indeed her idea from the start: to use Ashley to get closer to Beca.

Aubrey started giving Chloe a sermon for liking the girl she so wanted to throw off a cliff. The thing that had stopped her from completely exploding was the memo that their _Sbarro_breakfast awaited. Upon realizing this, Aubrey got dressed in a jiffy and went straight to the dining area with Chloe in tow.

The girls occupied the seats at the circular dining table that rest at the ground level of the Quarters. They feasted on the Italian cuisine, which was basically dominated by tomato-based dishes and vegetable salad.

Beca watched as the girls were having their first meal of the day. When her eyes fell on Chloe, something warmed inside her, and her narrowed gaze became nosily fixed at the redhead's direction. "Is there, in any way, that we have… met before, miss?"

As soon as Beca uttered her curiosity, Aubrey and Chloe exchanged looks. The redhead could decipher the message of Aubrey's smug stare as, "_Ouch, that hurt… Can't even remember your face. What a bastard_."

Before Chloe could answer back to Beca, the brunette disregarded the matter instead. "Never mind. It's probably just in my head." She shook her head, clearing it. "Bellas!" She addressed the rest. "Real work starts as soon as everyone gets done with the food. As we all notice, our beloved house needs fixing… needs transformation to modern interior design."

As usual, Aubrey wore her intrusive attitude on her sleeves. "What, you want us to hire carpenters? Designers? Call pesticide control?"

"Relax, Aubrey." Beca jeered. "I'll save you guys from the burden of skimming through the telephone directory." She cast a large grin.

"Wow. I didn't know you knew how to care." Stacie busted in, sarcastically.

"What kind of person knows nothing about sympathy?" Beca rhetorically remarked.

"The fucking Beca-kind," Stacie muttered low from across the table.

Beca didn't quite seem to have heard what the tall brunette uttered. "What was that?"

Stacie grinned back hypocritically at her. "Nothing."

Beca took a deep breath before returning to the matter. "Okay, back to house-fixing. In about two hours, the trucks will arrive, bringing in wood, and… other stuff. For a week or two, we'll be working our asses off to be able to finish renovating this so-called Quarters."

Everyone blurted out their shock. "Whaaaat?!"

"Beca, are you saying that we," Ashley gestured to the Bellas in the room, "will be the ones doing the fixing itself? Didn't you hire workmen or-,"

Beca chuckled. "No need to worry, Ash-Ash. Us girls will focus on the re-painting and the re-decorating only. We'll leave the welding and the rest of the carpentry to the men my dad help me recruit." She playfully threw a wink at her cousin.

"Enjoy your healthy breakfast!" She greeted the atmosphere before leaving.

"I just lost the rest of my appetite." Aubrey said under her breath. "Why does she have to charge in and change everything?! That girl is no fun! No fun at all!" She growled.

* * *

_[Two hours later…]_

"Okay," Beca began. "We throw away the 100-year-old leather couches on the foyer, and a conversation pit will take its place… well not exactly. We'll leave the foyer empty, as it should be. The conversation pit will have to be in the room to the right of the foyer area."

"First of all, those are actually 103 years old!" Aubrey busted in. "And second, why dig a compost pit inside this house?!"

"God, you!" Beca reacted in exasperation. "Try googling what a _con…ver…sation_ pit is first, will you?!" She cleared her throat. "Okay, next… A grand piano will stand erect at this area following the foyer. We'll also change the flooring to marble." She gestured to where they were situated – the empty space next to the foyer.

"And where do you think are we going to get cash for a grand piano, Beca?" Aubrey chimed in once more. "There's no way in hell that I'm allowing your hands into the Bellas' bank account. That goes solely for costumes, transpor-,"

The petite brunette cut her off. "I'm not interested in that money, okay?! My dad gave me a grand piano for my sixteenth birthday and that's what I'm donating to this house!"

"You own a grand piano?" Denise remarked in amazement.

"And you're just… donating it?" Chloe added, also amazed.

Beca chuckled at the two girls. "Yes. It's okay, really. I might not be using it soon, so I want the Bellas to make good use of it."

"Might?" Chloe said under her breath. "Is she dying, or something?" She joked, whispering to Aubrey.

"Okay! Next matter!" Beca continued. "I'm renaming this whole thing to Casa Bella. Plus, the-,"

Aubrey cut her off again. "Aca-scuse me?! The Bella Quarters have lived up to its name since the beginning!"

Beca reasoned out. "Well, 'casa bella' is Italian for be-,"

"Beautiful house! I know." Aubrey replied. "But you're-,"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Aubrey," Beca said, bridling the rest of her annoyance. "We'll put up a classy sign board out on the lawn with 'Casa Bella' in Chopin Script font. It's more appropriate; the old name never sounded Bella!"

"You know what else never sounded Bella?!" Aubrey raised her voice, but before she could finish her intended statement, Chloe chimed in.

"The peach-themed walls?" The redhead said loud enough to be heard under Aubrey's escalating rage.

"Yes! Thank you!" Beca enthusiastically exclaimed, shooting a finger to Chloe. "Which brings us to the next entry on our checklist: re-painting. In a couple of minutes, a truck full of paint cans will arrive. We'll have the exterior of the house sporting glory in the shades of Prussian blue, periwinkle, and cyber yellow."

Aubrey busted in, this time very angry. "What?! That's absolutely the most-,"

"Do you really have to interrupt me every time I speak? Do you really have to… to… negate everything I say?!" Beca interrupted. She exclaimed one more time when she anticipated that Aubrey was about to reply. "Shut it you fucking bitch!"

By those words, everyone was left startled, - eyes widened, mouths agape. Beca had thrown mean things to the blonde a lot of times but this one was the most insulting, - a serious injury to Aubrey as a person. Awkward silence filled the atmosphere for a while before Beca realized she had hit a nerve.

"I'm tired." She spoke low. "The workmen already know what to do. If you have questions, you can ask them." The brunette frantically grabbed her sling bag and headed out of the house.

* * *

_[After dinner…]_

"Like this meeting's still necessary… There's no need for negotiation." Aubrey stood before Chloe and Ashley who both sat like marble sculptures at the edge of the blonde's bed. "There's only one creature in this world whose funeral will be my absolute celebratory party."

"Regine?" Ashley inquired.

"Beca!" Aubrey shot back. "It's going to be a mash-up of _Fuck You_ and _No One Mourns the Wicked_."

Chloe shook her head quickly, pondering on whether or not she heard the blonde's words correctly. "What?! From Wicked? Bree, those two songs have completely different tempos, let alone chord progressions!"

"Fine!" Aubrey threw her hands up in defeat. "It's _Ding Dong the Bitch is Dead_ AND _No One Mourns the Wicked_!"

Chloe and Ashley only slapped a hand to their foreheads in response.

_That was a much worse combination_, thought Chloe.

"It's actually _Ding Dong the Witch is Dead_," Ashley said softly, eyes on her shoes.

"Aubrey, I'm really, really exhausted from today's work. If your sensible logic's out for a holiday, I suggest we re-schedule this planning session. I need my bed right now," Chloe said, her tone reflecting the frazzle in her system.

"Like that's my fault. Head Bitch got us installing additional bulbs, hanging paintings on the walls, re-painting every inch of this house all day! Where was she when we did all the hard labor, huh? And she thought buying us dinner would've compensated for it." Aubrey replied. "We are not postponing this meeting. We'll be singing to Beca on Saturday, and that's final."

"Can't we sing to somebody else? Regine? Bumper? Anyone other than Beca?" Ashley intruded in.

"You got a problem with my decision, Ash?"

"Um," Ashley gulped nervously – unsure of what to say. "S-she's my cousin. A-and I don't want to-,"

Aubrey cut her off. "Then better yet, leave this group and find other company for this assignment."

"Woah, Aubrey… Don't talk to her that way," Chloe intersected in a calm tone. She sided with the dark-haired freshman in revising the recipient of their _Harana_ assignment. She tried to reason with her best friend, but the blonde had her way of arguing back and dismissing the matter in favor of her own verdict, like she always had.

"We'll sing to Beca. Done!"

"Not done!" Chloe shot back, standing up to level up with Aubrey's aggression. "Find other ways to channel that fury of yours. I won't let you ruin this activity. Besides, apart from that little insecurity of yours, you have no other rightful reason to do such a thing to Beca."

Aubrey's mouth fell agape at the redhead's accusation. "Um, excuse me, dear. In case you fell asleep during her speech this morning, she called me a fucking bitch."

"Well, you weren't exactly being nice to her." Chloe folded her arms and quirked a brow at the blonde.

Aubrey narrowed her eyes. "And you thought 'fucking bitch' wasn't too much? That I deserved it just right?"

"Well, maybe it was a _little_ bit over the line, but-,"

"Then I have the right to sing my hate!" Aubrey remarked.

"But I don't," interrupted Ashley. The two turned to her direction.

"Same here," Chloe told Aubrey. "This is a group assignment. We should be finding common grounds to work on."

The blonde rolled her eyes at Chloe's suggestion. "Well, I guess I can think about it overnight."

"Thank you!" Chloe exclaimed in her expression of relief that Aubrey had finally brought up a sensible thought.

* * *

"Hey Jess," greeted Beca when the Treble picked up the call.

"Beca! You got to help me!" Jesse panicked at the other end of the line. "I think someone robbed my apartment last night!"

"Where are you?! Did you lose anything?!" Beca replied, her voice full of worry. She sat down at the porch of Casa Bella as she listened to her best friend.

Jesse was breathing heavily. "I'm… I'm here at my apartment, going through my collection. So far, I'm missing a CD in the OST section. It's the-,"

"Easy A soundtrack?" Beca inquired with sudden calmness. She threw a palm to her forehead upon realizing the real scenario.

"Y-yeah. Yeah, that's it." Jesse confusingly replied. "H-how did you-,"

"You were fast asleep at five in the morning today, so I used the spare key under the doormat to borrow that CD." Beca pinched the bridge of her wrinkled nose in embarrassment. "I am so, so sorry, Jess. I forgot to leave you a note about it."

"What did you need the CD at 5 AM for?" Jesse asked.

"Bella matters. Nothing more." Beca let out a short chuckle.

Jesse sat at the edge of his bed as he grinned. "So you really are the new captain of the Bellas, huh?"

Beca sighed. "There was no backing out. I had no choice."

"There's no such thing as 'no choice.' There's always a choice. And you clearly made yours."

Beca furrowed her brows. "And what is that?"

"You joined the Bellas so you can get back at Haull. Didn't you tell me that yesterday at the café?"

Beca was silent for a short while.

"Beca? Are you still there? Hello? Beca!"

"But it wasn't entirely because of it." Beca spoke. "I mean, some part of me wanted to do this for some other goal. I just can't figure out exactly what it is."

Jesse replied with a profound examination of Beca – something that the brunette found kind of annoying but at the same time, enlightening. "Beca, I think you're subconsciously taking only half of the responsibility of that choice you made… and that is why you are seeking for another cause to work for. You're aware that others may find your vengeful purpose to be childish and so to escape the proceeding accusations on your personality, you pretend like you're deprived of the human freedom of being your own fate."

When Beca didn't respond immediately, Jesse chuckled. "Too deep?"

"Too deep," confirmed Beca before she giggled back.

Jesse shifted the course of the phone conversation. "How's it going for you, Captain?"

"They hate me – all of them," replied Beca without delay.

"All of them? Including Ash-Ash?"

"What? No. Ash-Ash will always be at my corner, you know that. I mean, I could feel them stabbing me with knives."

"Literally?!"

Beca rolled her eyes. "Literally. No, dummy! Metaphorically!" She sighed. "This whole leading-a-bunch-of-girls thing? It's an impending disaster. I don't like talking to people."

"Now, now Becs. We both know that's not exactly true," comforted Jesse.

"Which one? The Bella thing being a disaster or me disliking people?"

"Both actually. But I was referring to the latter."

Beca expected that Jesse would've pointed to the 'former' and frowned when he said otherwise. She fondled the cord of her headphones that rested lazily on her lap as she worriedly thought about diving into that topic again with Jesse. She didn't want to, but here went Jesse tapping on it like crazy.

"The people that cross your path? They're going to matter, you hear me?" Jesse continued.

"Yeah I heard you the first five hundred times, Jess. And like I've always responded… No, they won't. They always come and go so fast. What's the point of socializing with them?"

"I don't want to sound like a boyfriend or anything, but… I won't go away." Jesse chuckled shortly. "So won't Ashley, and your dad. And the point of socializing with the others is that maybe one out of the ten idiots you bump to everyday will like you for you and stay."

"One out of ten… That's reassuring," scoffed Beca.

"Hey. One more friend is already a big difference, especially for you."

Beca ran her fingers through her hair before deciding to cut off things. "Jess, I need to go. I'm sorry, we'll talk soon, okay? I'll return your CD sometime next week." She talked fast and hung up before Jesse could bid his own farewell.

The ice cold wind that swiped smoothly on Beca's pale skin invited her inside the house. Exhausted from the day's demands, she sprinted to her room at the second floor – avoiding anyone's sight as she cruised past the foyer and the couches.

Beca paused and gently rested her head against the doorframe as she stared before the rest of her dimly-lit room. The frown had stayed on her face, mirroring the dusky atmosphere that stared back at her. The walls were bare and the desks were abandoned children. A bunch of pillows and an unfolded floral-themed gigantic comforter jumbled slovenly on the left portion of the king bed. Beca rolled her eyes when her sight landed on the baggage on the floor near the bed, reminding her to start unpacking.

Finally entering her room, she removed the headphones that hung around her neck and kept it in a drawer. Rest was calling to her, and she accepted the invitation as she kicked her shoes away and slumped lazily down to the vacant right part of the bed.

A faint smile slowly painted her face as her eyes shut peacefully, enjoying the comfort. Her consciousness was about to drift away to sleep when the jumble of sheets and pillows beside her suddenly shifted on its own. Beca's dilated pupils preceded the scream and the loud thump brought about by the slamming of her body against the carpeted floor of the room.

"Ow," muttered Beca as she held her left shoulder in mild pain.

Electric blue eyes fenced by fiery red curls crawled out of the messy cocoon on the bed and scooted across to where Beca lay. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Did you hit your head?"

"This is an occupied room, Bella number one." Beca massaged her hurt shoulder.

Chloe held out a hand and gently grabbed Beca's, leading the brunette to sit back on the bed. "I know. We occupy this room now… And my name's Chloe.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Beca found herself lost in the bright blue orbs that shone strikingly through the faint yellow rays of the lamp shade.

"Impending disaster," Beca spoke low as she gazed still at the most arresting irises she had ever seen.

* * *

_**A/N. Okay, I'm done with this chapter. =D I promise, this is final. So what do you guys think?**_


	5. Chapter 5: But Thanks

_**A/N. **_**_(I don't own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind the movie Pitch Perfect.) Hey guys! I'm so sorry about the super long hiatus. I've been seeking help for this story (getting Beta readers and all that) so things would improve. And they did! I WOULD LIKE TO THANK TheFlameRose AND your-arms-around-me FOR ALL THE HELP!_**

* * *

**Chapter 5: But Thanks**

Donald and Jesse were settled at the backyard of the Treble house while the moon's ample light eased out the night's darkness and the little bonfire before them provided warmth against the breeze. Jesse had been indulging himself reading a book for the past thirty minutes. Donald sat laxly in his foldable camping chair, his head hyperextended so that he faced the stars in the sky, listening to _Flo Rida_ while he frolicked with a baseball – throwing it vertically upwards over and over.

"Dude, if that ball gets lost in the woods, I'm going to crush your eyeglasses," remarked Jesse.

Donald continued playing with the ball. "Don't worry, Jesse. I'll make sure it gets back into your treasure box by morning."

"I don't get how you can amuse yourself all night with that little ball," said Jesse as he kept his sight locked to what he was reading.

Donald chuckled. "Dude, I don't get how you can amuse yourself all night reading that piece of shit!" He mocked.

"It's not shit. It's a book by John Green, entitled _The Fault in Our Stars_," defended Jesse.

"Hence, the alias piece of girly, overdramatic shit."

Jesse diverted the core of the conversation. "Did you hear that this book will have a film adaptation soon?"

"Like I care," Donald scoffed.

"This is actually Beca's favorite book. When I heard about the film adaptation, I decided to read it."

"Oh yeah! You're one of those kids who so wanted to have read the printed word first before seeing the motion picture, yeah?"

Jesse's brows furrowed in annoyance. "Not exactly, _Duck_! I wanted to read it so that I can compose my own soundtrack ahead of the big guys. It's a tragedy and the best way to a tragic OST is to meddle with the narrator's tone of speaking. You know, Hazel was a teenage girl but if you read the part where Gus died and she was mourning, you could still hear the consistency of '_badass-slash-hilarious-Hazel_' in the way that she chose her words. I already have tons of ideas for this. I hope I can start uploading by the end of next month. It'll boost up my _YouTube_ views."

"Wow, _St. James_! Nice strategy. I didn't know you had it in you!" Donald mocked.

"_St. James_?" Jesse's forehead creased. "I mocked you with _Donald Duck_ and the best you could come up with was _Jesse St. Ja_-," He pulled up upon coming to a realization. "Holy crap! Donald! You watch Glee!"

Jesse's last word made Donald miss the catch and hit himself on the forehead with the baseball. Jesse pulled out his _iPhone_ and started tapping on the screen. "Man, _Twitter-verse_ will go crazy when they learn about Donald the _Gleek_!" He said out loud.

"Jesse! Don't you fucking dare!" Donald warned as he plugged out his earphones. He held Jesse's ball up. "Hey Swanson! Any last words?" He scoffed as he positioned his arm ready to throw the ball far off to the blind woods. A devious smile crooked out of his face.

Jesse's mouth fell agape. "No! No! Donald! I was just kid-," But Donald had let go of the ball.

With wide eyes, Jesse watched as the little white sphere disappeared into sight. He held out his _iPhone_ to Donald and showed the home menu on the screen. "My phone doesn't have any service in here, let alone an active connection to a hotspot! I couldn't connect to _Twitter_ dumbass!"

"Ooopps." Donald stood and stretched out a bit. "Keep calm Swanson. I'll find your baseball." He took a few steps heading to the trees.

"D-do you n-need my help?"

"I do, but I feel like this was entirely my fault so it's cool. No need." A couple more steps away from the bonfire and Donald disappeared into the trees.

* * *

"Hmmm?" Chloe squinted her eyes at the brunette. "Did you say impending dis-,"

"I'm fine." Beca blurted out. "Wow. You have the bluest of all blue eyes."

Chloe felt warmth pooling in her cheeks. She wasn't sure if it was a compliment or anything of that sort, but the mere fact that Beca finally noticed something about her (aside from that night at the resort) made her heart race.

Beca closed her eyes tight as she shook her head quickly. "Wait. How is this your room too?"

Chloe chuckled. "This is actually my room since last year. My previous roommate graduated already so I've been having these four walls by myself for a few weeks now. Well, obviously not anymore."

"Oh. Don't worry, I'll be right out of your hair in a jiffy." Beca stood and went for her bags on the floor.

Chloe dashed out of bed. "No, Beca! Don't take it the wrong way. I like you-," Her talking got halted when the brunette turned to face her. The nearness incited the butterflies to go wild in Chloe's stomach. She cleared her throat before finishing off. "I like you here."

Beca didn't say anything back and instead, fluttered her lashes while she goggled hilariously at the redhead.

"Besides, everyone else's room is full," Chloe added. She took a step closer to Beca and gently grabbed the satchel that had its strap clutched in the brunette's hand. "Come on. I'll help you unpack."

Chloe hung the satchel at the wall near the bed before switching the main lights on.

"If this is really a room for two, why is there only one bed?" Beca asked.

"I don't know. I guess, bunk beds weren't exactly in the dictionary of the Bella pioneers." Chloe picked up the rest of Beca's bags and laid them on the bed.

Beca was glued to her stance. "And they didn't hear of '_two separate single-size beds_' as well?"

Chloe chuckled. "Apparently not."

"If this was your room since last year, how come this whole thing looks like a wrecked Titanic?" Beca wandered her eyes around the crude room.

"My former roommate was an Aubrey Posen junior. She wanted everything along margins, bla bla bla. I once put up laces of scarlet threads on the wall - slant and side by side so that the wall clock over them looked creatively framed and you know what she did the day after?"

"She… yelled and nagged endlessly at the laces?" Beca sarcastically guessed. She continued when she was met only with Chloe's confused face. "Didn't you say she was an Aubrey Posen junior?"

Chloe cracked a short laugh at the brunette's humor. "She um… She unglued them and trimmed the edges so that they presented in equal length and interval when she re-attached them vertically on the wall.

"Anyway, now that she's out, I'm redesigning this whole room. That's why it looks so bare right now. I kind of scraped off the pungent smell of her OCD-ness." Chloe continued.

Beca walked over to her at the bedside and contributed in unloading her clothes. "So you're basically starting over," Beca said as she unzipped a bag of hers.

Chloe smiled at her and nodded in agreement. The other girl kept stealing glances at the redhead that stood beside her, intermittently examining her face as she sorted her accessories in place. Chloe finally caught her staring.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just… I…" Beca took a deep breath before continuing. "Are you sure we haven't met before? I mean, I know I already asked you this morning, but you just seem so… so familiar."

Chloe picked up a pile of neatly folded shirts from the bed and headed to Beca's wardrobe to store them. "Bourbon Lancer? McDowell? No, dad I haven't been drinking? Jackson? Haull's bleeding nose? Jesse to his rescue?" Chloe paused and faced the brunette from across the room. "Notorious bastard?

"Did any of that ring a bell?"

A small smile pulled out of Beca as she finally hit the memory, her eyes fixed on the floor. "You're rocking that blue bikini, Chandra."

Chloe giggled. "You have a thing for names, don't you?"

Beca threw a half-smirk that painted Chloe's cheeks deep red.

_That damn smirk_, thought Chloe.

* * *

"Damn it mosquitos! Stop feeding off of me!" Donald yelled as he rubbed his nape aggressively where the itchy bite had been. The twigs cracked relentlessly under his feet as he raced around the forest for the sixth minute, searching for Jesse's lost baseball.

With a flashlight at hand, he zigzagged through the trees, patiently waiting for his light to stumble upon a circular white figure on the forest grounds. He paused at a semi-open space, - the nearest tree being at least eight feet away from where he stood still. The dim light by the night's moon barely gave Donald a fair view of the perimeter. His torch flickered as if it were to lose its battery life. Grunting in annoyance, he patted the head of the device with the ball of his hand, hoping to revive its usual performance at least until he makes it out of the dark woods. "Don't you die on me, buddy. The lord of darkness will devour on me if you do."

With a wisp of luck, the flashlight kept steady. "I love you," Donald whispered playfully to the device.

He was sure that the he had been in complete stillness when Donald heard leaves and twigs crunching from a distance. His heart raced at the entry of anxiety.

_It could just be a harmless rabbit, or a lost deer… Or a hungry mountain lion_, thought Donald in his head. He directed his torch to where he heard the sound and slowly walked towards the fat Mahogany trunk that seemed to be the only hindrance between his sight and whatever creature made the rustling noise. Donald jumped quickly past the trunk to see what's behind – ending up being met by a hideous scream.

"Ahhhhh!" A tall brunette dressed in revealing plunging top and skinny jeans and boots yelped as the glare of Donald's flashlight burned her sight. Her weight shifted off and met the cold dirt.

"Wait. You're that Bella girl, aren't you?" Donald asked her.

"I prefer the term '_woman_.' And I have a name. It's Stacie."

"What the hell are you doing out here at this very hour, Stacie?" Donald questioned – his flashlight still directed at her.

Stacie kept her left hand held out in front of her squinting eyes. "I'll answer that excellent question if you take away that stupid flashlight of yours off my face and help me stand back to my feet."

Donald dimmed his torch and aided Stacie back to her balance. "So?"

"Okay, mister. I'm gathering that this piece of land might be your private property so I'll be straight and honest… I was on my way back to campus grounds from the _Theta Pi_ house. To cut the story short, I sort of lost my way into this freaky forest."

"I also have a name, miss. And it's Donald. And no, this isn't _my_ private property. I had thrown my friend's baseball out here and now I'm desperately searching for that damn thing."

Stacie wasn't paying much attention to his explanation. "Ow," she muttered as she caressed her wounded right hand.

"Woah, you're hurt." Donald gently held her hand and inspected the inch-long cut on her palm. "Damn, a twig sliced through your hand pretty deep."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Thanks to your epic entrance." She struggled to free her hands from his grip but failed.

"That's going to be infected if we don't do anything." Donald picked out an 8-ounce bottle of water from the pocket of his jacket. He cleansed Stacie's wound with half its contents and secured it from microbe exposure by wrapping his handkerchief around her hand. "There."

Stacie smiled lightly on the gesture. "You're pretty good at this."

"At what?"

The brunette leaned in closer to Donald and levelled her lips close to his. "At winning me over," she whispered seductively.

Donald chuckled. "I'm like a walking _breathalyzer_, Stacie. And boy, do I smell a lot of ethanol from your air."

Stacie slowly placed a hand at the back of Donald's head – fondling his black locks gently between her digits. "I may have had some shots tonight."

"Right. You just came from a frat party. Okay, how about this? We figure out our way out of this dark shit and I walk you to your house," suggested Donald.

Stacie pulled back and brought a hand cupped upon her forehead. "I'm tired."

"I know, dear. Come on." Donald took her wounded hand and led the way out of the woods.

* * *

"I'm fucking sleepy!" Beca whined as she sat on the carpeted floor piling up her books and records. "I don't know about you Chloe, but I'm dozing off. It's been two hours. Unpacking can continue tomorrow."

Chloe watched as the brunette made her way to the king bed. "I was the one who burned down tons of carbohydrate-energy with all the renovation today and you're the one giving up this early?"

The petite brunette slumped back to bed, her stomach flat against the soft mattress. "It's complicated. I'm pretty much one of those who can't stand cardio."

"Good for me." Chloe left the rest of Beca's unfolded flannel shirts on the floor and joined her roommate in bed. "Beca?"

When the redhead got only soft snoring for a response, she got up on her knees and pulled Beca's socks off her feet. Chloe then, gently removed the ponytail on Beca's head (which the brunette didn't bother to even take off before drifting to sleep). The redhead felt her heart racing once more when her fingers brushed against the mellow strands of Beca's chocolate locks.

_And they said, love at first sight didn't exist_, Chloe thought.

Without delay, the redhead shifted her position so that she lay close to the brunette, with an arm thrown across Beca's trunk. About a minute had passed by when the brunette snapped back to reality, immediately realizing that Chloe cuddled into her. "Chloe, what the hell?!" Beca sat up.

"It's storming outside and it's cold. I'm a natural cuddle-er." Chloe said, her usual beaming smile obvious on her face.

"Yeah. It's storming outside and it's cold. And I don't like nearness." Beca reached over to the headboard of the bed and pointed to the "222" painted at the center. "This 222 is for our room number, yeah?"

Chloe nodded enthusiastically still.

"Okay, _Oh-Chlo_. Here are some ground rules: your side of the bed runs up to the middle '2' on this headboard. There's going to be a fine line that'll run towards the footboard, so no trespassing," explained Beca.

"_Oh-Chlo_?" Chloe asked.

"Because the O's in '_xoxo'_ represent the hugs. And you like hugs. Calling you Oh-Chlo makes me remember your name better." Beca looked right into Chloe's eyes as she talked.

"You got the bluest of all blue eyes too, Beca," Chloe said as she enjoyed staring back into the brunette's orbs.

"Yeah, but they're so dark, sometimes you can't distinguish my black pupils from my deep blue irises. It's boring."

"No, it's not. They're in deep blue like you said – which means that the blue pigment is way more vivid in yours than in mine. My eyes contain scant amount of color; yours are rich in hue and that's what makes 'em wonderful."

"No, your eyes are the wonderful ones," Beca argued. "I mean, when people look at you, your eyes showcase themselves on their own without much effort. With mine, you'd still need strong light so that the blue hue shows itself up."

Chloe's cheeks ran in red again with Beca's unintentional compliments. "And that's the thing Becs, - sometimes, those little things that can only be appreciated at a closer vieware the most beautiful ones. It's like, they stay reserved under radar because they are so precious to be easily out in the open; the fact that it would have to take a persnickety eye for it to be extremely beautiful sums its worth all up."

Beca slowly raised both her eyebrows. "Jesse's been the only one who has ever called me _Becs_."

"Oh, sorry. It's habit. I'm like this breathing nickname-generator. I'll call you _Beca_ if that's what you prefer."

"It's fine, actually. If you're more okay with _Becs_, then _Becs_ it is." Beca smirked shortly at Chloe. "It's funny, actually – how Jesse started calling me by that nickname. I've known him since forever but '_Becs_' was born during our high school days. One time, I told him that I began to wonder about how come I could call him '_Jess_' and it would sound so dominant over everything while everyone else called me '_Bec_' and I would feel very little. Jesse said it was because his nickname ended with an '_S_' making it sound plural and dominating. Right then, he offered to call me '_Becsss'_ – with three S's at the tail so that I will always think strong."

_Right. Of course you got this long history with that Jesse guy._ Chloe thought in her head. "You're this adorable little thing, aren't ya?"

"Don't call me that!" Beca growled, making Chloe giggle. The brunette lay again on her stomach, cuddling a red, round fluffy pillow. "Sleeping time."

Chloe retreated to the left side of the bed; her own side of the bed.

"Man, the only good thing about Casa Bella is that it has awesome pillows," commented Beca as she hugged the red pillow tighter.

"That's actually my pillow," replied Chloe.

Beca shifted again from her position and faced Chloe. "Pardon me. Here, I'll give it back."

"No. It's okay, Becs! Look, I have a spare. This shall be enough." Chloe grinned at the brunette.

"If you say so," said Beca before turning her head to the other side and shutting her eyelids down.

"G-goo-good night Becs," Chloe greeted sheepishly.

"G'night Oh-Chlo. Have sweet dreams," replied Beca half-asleep.

_I've been having sweet dreams since you walked through that door earlier_, thought Chloe.

_But thanks, Beca_.

* * *

**_A/N. Thank you for following this story! Leave reviews, please!_**


	6. Chapter 6: The Jesse Status

_**A/N. (I do not own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind Pitch Perfect.) Hey there! Thank you so much for following this story! Anyway, I realized that the previous chapter was a bit short, so I made this sixth one a little stuffed in for you, guys. I hope you'll like it.**_

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Jesse Status**

"Wow. Your room is – pink," commented Jessica when Cynthia Rose led her and Amy into the room she shared with Ashley.

"Great! In Tasmania, pink Mondays bring good luck," Amy said.

Cynthia Rose chuckled. "It's Ashley. That girl's kind of obsessed with flowers and anything pink, thus, our room." She gestured to the floral pink walls.

Amy and Jessica settled comfortably at Cynthia Rose's bed.

"Where is she, anyway? Your roommate?" Jessica asked.

Cynthia Rose set up the stereo and plugged in her _iPod_. "Ashley mentioned something about a family dinner slash reunion over at Beca's home that'll probably end up very late. She'll be staying there tonight."

"Oh. The wicked witch of the west. I almost forgot she's Ashley's cousin." Jessica rolled her eyes at the thought of Beca.

Cynthia Rose grabbed a chair and sat facing the two girls. "So, what songs are we going to mix for the _Harana_?"

"Slow down, girl. Ask first who we'll be singing to," said Amy.

"This should be easy," interrupted Jessica. "We should sing to Beca."

Amy broke into laughter. "Oh, that will be so much fun!"

"Wait." Cynthia Rose shook her head. "Beca? Are you sure you guys want it to be Beca?"

Jessica shrugged. "Why not? She's been torturing us since Saturday."

"Yeah. Horrible Saturday. Almost two days have passed but I still have PTSD from all the lifting and hammering. And boy, do those _Sbarro_ salads suck! Can you imagine eating breakfast without bacon?" The bridge of her nose wrinkled as she put on a tortured expression. "I am not called Tasmania's Bacon-eating Monster for nothing!"

"And didn't she say that we'll be doubling hours for boot camp, cardio, and vocal enrichment? Three hours a day! Man, I have a life outside of the Bellas. And I hope you're not forgetting that she called Stacie a big _loser_ for not being able to hit the notes properly this evening. That heartless little girl deserves our Harana assignment," added Jessica.

"Okay. She may be a little strict but dedicating a hate mix to her in public would be too much," Cynthia Rose reasoned out.

Jessica's brows shot upward. "_A little strict_? Damn, Rosie! That's some strictness threshold you got there!" She said, her voice vibrating with sarcasm.

The other woman threw a face that said '_You know well what I mean_.'

Jessica ignored her and walked over to the stereo to browse Cynthia Rose's _iPod_ for songs. "Hmmm, what do you got here? Let's see. How about-,"

"No, Jessica. We're not singing to Beca Mitchell." Cynthia Rose folded her arms.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "And then again… WHY NOT?! I'm pretty sure Aubrey's team has her as the recipient as well, so-,"

"Then let them do it! Let them humiliate Beca with their assignment!" Cynthia Rose interrupted. "One is enough, Jessica. And I'm certain that Aubrey will already have it look gruesome for her. Beca doesn't need us too to add up to that."

Cynthia Rose wasn't exactly on the honest side when she suggested that they let Aubrey's trio humiliate Beca. The assignment required someone who's funeral will be their celebratory party and for Cynthia Rose, unless Beca was Hitler's great granddaughter, the brunette won't be worth it.

Jessica tilted her head as she studied the other girl. "Well, aren't you a saint?" She said sarcastically.

Cynthia Rose let out an exasperated sigh. _Not even my pretend-hate worked on this girl_, she thought.

"Fine!" Jessica finally agreed. "But pick somebody else good, somebody else worth it! I'm not quite pleased with how I was deprived of my freedom of expression."

Cynthia Rose smiled triumphantly. _It did work, after all._

"You okay with that decision, Amy?" Jessica queried.

"It's Fat Amy, my name. I've told you that a bazillion times." Amy cleared her throat. "And yeah, I'm cool with whatever you guys come up with."

* * *

"So," Jesse started as he and Beca waited patiently in line at Vyecertt Café. "How did family dinner go last night?"

"Well, you know, like most family dinners in American history: awkward… and boring," replied Beca. "Dad and aunt Ariel enjoyed the minutes catching up and reminiscing the days when their voices were still at the same key."

Jesse chuckled. "Why do you keep calling Ashley's mom as _Ariel_?"

"Because it tickles my funny bone thinking that my father is _Sebastian_ and his sister is _Ariel_. It's sort of a cool non-cannon twist, yeah? A mermaid with a crab brother?" Beca's face was deadpanned.

Before Jesse could react, they were already face to face with the barista who carried a wide smile as she waited for their orders. "Uh, mint tea with extra honey for me; orange refreshment for my best friend," said Jesse.

"What?! No! Don't listen to him. I'm having mocha frappuccino, miss." Beca insisted. She caught Jesse glaring at her.

When they claimed their cups, Beca and Jesse settled at a small table situated just outside the glass doors of the café.

"You said that your dad planned the menu. What did you guys have for that family dinner?" Jesse inquired as he nursed his cup of mint tea.

"The usual: veggies, wheat, and everything bland." Beca rolled her eyes. "My dad's relentless. I think I had set him off last night when I pulled out the bottles of cola from the fridge and laid them on the dining table."

"You know what will set him off further?" Jesse gestured to Beca's drink. "That large frappuccino you're quaffing."

"Please," Beca mocked. "Why skip on the good stuff? Life's too short… like _really_ short." She stirred the contents of her cup with the straw.

Jesse watched as a café staff member walked innocently towards their table. Upon reaching them, he gently placed a hand over Beca's shoulder as he pulled out a piece of paper from the pockets of his Vyecertt Café apron. "Excuse me, ma'am?"

Beca looked up to him confusingly.

"Letter for Miss Beca Mitchell?" He held out the folded paper.

"I'm Beca Mitchell." She placed her beverage at the table to receive the paper. Before Beca could ask the staff member about who sent the letter, he was gone. When she successfully had unfolded the paper, Beca was met with a mysterious set of words.

_"Enjoy the fucking show, dear Head Bitch," _the paper said.

Jesse curiously leaned in. "Who is it from?"

Beca was pondering silently, when singing voices started hovering over the area.

_One way or another, I'm gonna find ya  
I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya  
One way or another, I'm gonna win ya  
I'll get ya, I'll get ya_

Denise sang as she entered Beca's sight, followed by Lilly who backed up the first verse with subtle beat boxing. An anonymous guy held out a video camera filming the two girls as they performed in public.

_Geez, girls_, thought Beca, chuckling shortly upon realizing that they were doing their _Harana_ assignment. Her gaze wandered as she searched for the third member, smirking deviously when long auburn hair approached gracefully against the blowing of the chilly afternoon wind.

_Just go ahead, hate on me, run your mouth  
so everyone can hear.  
Hit me with the worst you got. Knock me down.  
Baby I don't care.  
Keep it up, and soon enough you'll figure out…_

Stacie sang with conviction, her glare firing bullets over at Beca. Circling behind the petite brunette's chair, Stacie leaned down, swaying her lengthy locks to one side as she neared her lips to Beca's ears. She sang the words with pride as the café crowd centered their attention into the Bellas' _Harana_.

_You wanna be, you wanna be, a loser like me (One way or another)  
a **loser** like me…_

Beca smirked at Stacie's action, the memory of yesterday's tough rehearsal flashing back into memory. _Payback, huh? _Beca thought. Jesse's meeting eyebrows threw a curious look at Beca that inquired "Becs, what the hell is going on?"

Denise got in charge of the succeeding verse, hitting its tune as fiery as Stacie did with her solo. Beca tilted her head at the blonde, curiously wondering why she's now meeting the Hyde out of Denise's Jekyll (something she never expected).

_Push me up against the locker. (I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya)  
And hey, all I'll do is shake it off. I'll get you back when I'm your boss.  
I'm not thinking 'bout you fucker (I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya)  
'cause hey, I could be a superstar. I'll see you when you wash my ass._

Four lines by the once full of sunshine Denise Taylor; Lilly Onakunamara's cutting-edge beat boxing; Stacie Conrad's free-spirited solos… All communicated a unanimous message: _anger_.

_All of that dirt you've been throwing my way, (One way or another, I'm gonna find ya)  
it ain't so hard to take (I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya)  
'cause I know one day you'll be screaming my name (One way or another, I'm gonna win ya)  
and I'll just look away (That's right)_

_And if the lights are all out  
I'll follow your bus downtown,  
see who's hanging out_

Jesse, who sat fully entertained before his cup of mint tea, was amazed with how Stacie could take an amazing audience, with the out-of-the-box percussion sounds that escaped Lilly's genius throat, with Denise's vocals, with everyone's energy. They got a considerable mob of crowd fencing their small perimeter, cheering enthusiastically when the girls approached the "yell" part of their mash-up.

_Hey you, over there! Keep the "L" above in the air!  
Hey you, over there! Keep the "L" up 'cause I don't care!  
You can throw your sticks! You can throw your stones!  
Light the rocket, just watch me go!  
Yeah, L-O-S-E-R, I can only be who I are!_

One more run on the chorus of the Glee song and the girls ended their number with loud applause from everyone. The guy that held the camera entertained himself with documenting the cheerful crowd.

_Awkward tempo disparity_, was all Beca could think of after the mini show.

* * *

Walking past the lawn, Aubrey put her _Ray-Ban_ sunglasses on to combat the sun as it blazed overhead on a Wednesday morning.

"Father!" Aubrey called out as she entered through the main door of the Posen mansion. "Father! I'm home!" She waited for an echo of a response from anywhere in the big house, settling down at the couches of their extravagant living room when she didn't hear a sound. The thought of lazily resting her feet up on the couches crossed her mind but was ignored when she realized she needed to tell Chloe that she was out of Barden and was to miss this morning's Bella rehearsal.

"Aubrey!" An excited and enthusiastic tone called out. It wasn't exactly the voice that Aubrey expected to hear, but it left her smiling at the very sound of it.

"Dan! _Omigod!_ I missed you!" Aubrey ran towards a ten-year-old boy who had his arms spread out to accept her incoming tight hug. She playfully pinched his reddened cheeks before petting his blonde locks through gritted teeth. "That's an _aca-cute_ haircut, Danny-boy! My, I haven't seen you in years, little brother."

"Ugh. Aubrey, how many times do I have to remind you to call me by my proper name?"

"Oh forgive me Declan Daniel _'aka awesome brother'_ Posen."

"Not what I meant, Aubrey!" Declan moved to sit on the couches. "And no, it hasn't been even a year yet since you last saw me. It was just two months and seventeen days ago."

Aubrey giggled. "You keep count?"

Declan nodded. "It's an interesting thing to do – counting days."

"Declan, why aren't you in school, by the way?"

"It's Winston Perkin's memorial day."

"Who's Winston Perkin?"

"The first headmaster of my school. Don't you remember? He has this big self-portrait at the lounge that you labelled as '_subtly 'tinctured' _when you came to watch our winter play last year."

"Oh," remarked Aubrey, pretending to have successfully hit the correct memory. "That play was awesome."

"Yeah, until I tripped off the stage," Declan said with disappointment in his tone.

His reply finally led her into remembering. Aubrey cuddled her little brother into her to comfort him. "You still upset about that debacle?"

Declan shook his head. "Not really. I mean, I got basketball and the math club. I think my given credentials will suffice the burial of that awful event in my life."

Aubrey cradled him, hugged him tighter before placing a light peck on the top of his head. "So, what should we be looking forward to this season, Team Captain? Are the Winston Sharks getting a back-to-back legend?"

Declan didn't reply.

"Dec? Are you okay?" Aubrey pulled him away gently from the cuddle.

He crashed back yearningly into his sister's embrace. "Hug me for three more minutes before I answer anything basketball-related."

Her brother's clingy behavior at the moment bothered Aubrey. "Something wrong?"

"I wish Mother was still alive. She would've protected me." Declan tightened his hug around her waist. "Frankenstein's monster yelled at me the other night when she saw the _B plus_ on my essay."

"Who's Frankenstein's monster? Regine?"

When her brother didn't answer, Aubrey rubbed a hand up and down his shoulder – a gesture that Declan found to be so lenitive. "Don't listen to her, Declan. _B plus_ is already an achievement."

"To you, maybe. To Father, it wasn't."

"He said that?"

"Not exactly. When I handed him the paper and he saw the _B plus_, he simply grinned at me. Usually he'd ask for a high five or a fist bump, but he just smiled. He probably didn't like it."

Aubrey wanted to tell him that he was wrong; that knowing their father, he never faked smiles. She wanted to keep telling Declan that he did alright, but the mutual feeling of not being enough made her think twice that maybe her brother needed some more pushing. And yet, encouraging him to be better would spice up the load he carried on his back. Aubrey knew that exact pain, that exact burden very well. She hated the thought of dragging her brother into that same hell.

Declan fondled the ruffles at the edge of his sister's blouse. "I'm thinking of enrolling in an online writing class, ya know? It's hard that I can't be as awesome as Regine. I feel so different. I'm stuck here getting B's on my essays while Regine is like – three steps behind from inheriting a law firm. She's not even a lawyer yet. And you, you're a _straight-A_ pre-law student and you won pretty much every debate competition there was. Father is so happy because you're on the same track of success as Regine, as him, as Old Gramps Danny, as every Posen that walked the Earth."

_Not really, Dec. I'm not even close to being there yet_, argued Aubrey in her head. She took Declan's hand to softly caress it, only to discover several fresh abrasions on his arm.

"Dec, where did you get these?!" Aubrey worried.

Declan pulled his hand and tucked it in. "Basketball. Hadrian West's point guard ran over me."

She forcibly took his hand and inspected it. "You should've had this nursed properly by Regine! This will get infected!"

"I don't like her. She might even scold me for being so careless. I hate how she's the one sleeping here in this house every night and not you."

Aubrey disappeared into a hallway without a word and came back with a first aid kit. She dipped gauze pads into the iodine solution and cleansed Declan's wounds before covering it with a thin sheet of dressing secured by _Transpore_ medical tape.

"They teach you first aid in pre-law?" Declan inquired.

She chuckled. "No. My best friend Chloe taught me how. She's studying to be a doctor."

Aubrey didn't want to leave her brother feeling so down. "I'll tell you what… The next time your teacher assigns an essay homework, I'll proofread and improve your draft before you submit it." She cast a comforting smile at him.

Declan beamed at the idea. "I'd love that, Aubrey! Thank you so much!" He threw himself again into a tight hug.

The giddy frisson in Aubrey's heart was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. "Dec, I have to take this call. Go to your room, wait for me there. Then we'll play _Starmaker_." Her brother followed without delay.

Aubrey went into the porch for better reception before picking up the call. "Hey, Chlo! I was just about to call you."

"Where are you? Beca's starting to get angry with the incomplete attendance. And by _'incomplete attendance'_ she meant you being absent today."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Tell fucking Head Bitch that I'm at home right now and will be back before the sun sets today!" She yelled.

Chloe giggled. "Yeah, I will. Calm down, Bree."

"So are you guys on a ten-minute break or something?"

"A ten-minute_ me-time_ to be exact. Everyone here was dead in spirit when we started today's rehearsal, so Beca told us to withdraw from socializing for ten minutes and contemplate on how disappointing we are for not doing what we were purposed to do." Chloe let out a chuckle. "It's funny. Everyone else except for Stacie was doing actual contemplation. Your roommate's busy with a nail file right now. What a rebel."

"And you're not a rebel?" Aubrey scoffed.

"I was done doing my contemplation! I've got like, six more minutes."

Aubrey shifted the topic. "Is that why you called? Because you were bored stiff with yourself over there?"

"That, and because I'm letting you know that I won't be able to attend _Harana_ practice tonight." Chloe's voice dropped. "I'm painting our room. The paint cans will be delivered this afternoon. That is, if our proposal presentation with Professor Higgins gets moved. Either way, I'll be busy tonight. I hope you're okay with that, Bree.

"Anyway, I can catch up pretty fast as long as I have the proper music sheets in my hands."

Aubrey grunted. "I missed Beca's rehearsal session so I guess it's only rightful that someone misses mine. Fine, Chloe! But if you mess up big time on our next practice, I'm changing the _Harana _recipient's name to Beca."

"Yay! Aubrey you're the best!" Chloe wheedled.

"Yeah, whatever, Red. Listen, I'm playing _Starmaker_ with Declan, so I got to hang up. Bye!" Aubrey ended the call.

* * *

_[Later at night…]_

Chloe sat at Casa Bella's garden with a piece of paper and a pen. The ice cold wind made her nose go red while she doodled a pine tree on the back of her notebook. She jolted and reached for her phone excitedly when it rang at the coffee table.

_"Hey, guys! Professor Higgins just announced that thesis proposal presentation is rescheduled next week! Tomorrow is a free day! ~ Valerie Woods. [received at 6:02 P.M.]"_

Chloe squealed in excitement before sprinting up to Room 222. The redhead smiled when she spotted Beca sitting on the bed, bobbing her head rhythmically to the beat from the headphones around her head.

"I didn't know you were home early. Didn't you have a gig or something?" Chloe said as she laid down her notebook and pen on her desk.

Beca didn't hear her words over the ear-splitting volume from her headphones. Chloe giggled from where she stood upon realizing this. The redhead hovered over from corner to corner in search of the paint cans that she brought in earlier this afternoon. When she gave up searching, she called her roommate's attention.

"Beca, did you happen to know where the paint cans are?" Chloe inquired.

Beca took off her headphones. "Paint cans? What paint cans?"

"The paint cans that were there on the floor near my desk."

"Oh." Beca reached for the remote and turned on the television. "I threw them out."

Chloe's eyebrows furrowed as she thought about hearing Beca's words correctly. "Pardon?"

"I threw them out," Beca said, her eyes glued straight to the television. "Their awful smell was all over the room when I came in, and I couldn't breathe, so I threw them out."

Chloe shook her head. "Beca, are you playing with me? Where are the paint cans? I'm designing the walls tonight."

"I told you, I threw them out."

"You threw them out?" Chloe repeated, her voice starting to vibrate with annoyance.

"Yea, I did. I couldn't breathe in here, so I had to."

Chloe paced up and down the room as she battled with herself on whether or not she should believe Beca and get angry with her. "Beca, you can't just throw away somebody else's stuff like that! Are you out of your mind?!" She yelled over to her.

Beca didn't reply immediately, implying that she was distracted with what she's watching. Chloe grabbed the remote and switched off the television. "Beca, I'm talking to you!"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "And I was watching MTV! Give me the remote back!"

"No! Not until you look me in the eye while I talk to you!" Chloe folded her arms in front of her.

Beca narrowed her eyes at Chloe. "I'm listening."

"Where are the paint cans?!" Chloe queried again, her tone still up high with annoyance.

"I threw them out of the room," said Beca in her calmest tone.

"Why did you throw 'em out?!"

"They were stinky and I couldn't breathe."

"Beca, I bought them with my own allowance! That's my money you made to disappear!"

"Money isn't lost, Oh-Chlo. It's like energy: it's never lost because it just keeps getting transferred and rotated."

"What the fuck, Beca?! Will you drop the sarcasm for one second and have a mature conversation with me?!"

"How about, no?" Beca grinned before getting the remote from Chloe's hand and switching the television again.

Chloe's fists were shaking as she boiled with fury. The brunette was being a child. No, the brunette was being a _bitch_. Chloe recognized her anger as identical to Aubrey's and Stacie's every time Beca got to their nerves. _So this is what it feels like…_

"Beca, you need to replace the paint cans!" Chloe yelled once more.

"No, I don't. They weren't mine. You replace them yourself," Beca said softly, her eyes stuck at the TV again.

Chloe's breathing went faster with each second. She frantically grabbed her purse and stormed out of the room. As she was walking brisk out of the house, she thought about that lost hope of getting Beca to treat her a little nicer than she did with everyone else. It punched her in the stomach, thinking that she couldn't have the '_Jesse-status_' in Beca's life; that she's about the same as everyone else to Beca – the girl she liked. The other night, everything was going well between the two of them and then all of a sudden, she acted weird and uncouthly.

_[After a few hours…]_

"Ashley, it's a D sharp!" Aubrey said at the top of her voice as she repeatedly slammed a finger to a black key of the piano.

"I'm so sorry, Aubrey. I'll try again," Ashley said sheepishly.

"From the top. Let's start with your humming," suggested Aubrey before she took one deep breath. "Okay. Five. Six. Sev-,"

Aubrey's cue got halted when the gym doors flew wildly open and a furious Chloe charged right into them – surprising the two girls.

"Chloe!" Aubrey greeted. "I thought you're re-painting the-,"

"I'm changing our set list for the _Harana_," Chloe said as she took out a pile of papers. She dropped her satchel at the foot of the piano.

"What? You can't do that. I'm halfway done with this arrangement," said Aubrey.

"Too bad. I have my arrangement all finished." Chloe distributed the music sheets. "And don't bother asking me about my ability to come up with an arrangement in two hours. It's a Chloe Beale thing," she added.

There was one thing that Aubrey noticed was absent: The Chloe Beale smile. The redhead's lips frowned while her brows furrowed in silenced fury.

Aubrey smirked as she studied the sheets. "Powerful songs, Chlo. Did Bumper shove you to a tree on your way here?"

"Oh, we're no longer singing to Bumper," Chloe said as she folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"We're singing to my fucking roommate, Beca Mitchell."

* * *

**_A/N. Leave reviews, please! Let me know what you guys think! =D_**


	7. Chapter 7: Once a Bitch

**_A/N. (I do not own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind the movie Pitch Perfect.) Hey guys! I hope you liked Declan Posen in the previous chapter! We'll be seeing him again in some of the future chapters. =D And thank you for all the reviews! I know that a lot of you are eager to know Beca's real deal, but our girl Chloe Beale would have to yet revise a clever plan to successfully do so. Shout out to HowlingWolf14! Sorry dude, Beca's pretty human. =)) But I'm sure you guys will love Beca's story! Another shout out to ChocolateLady03! Yeap, the pine tree that Chloe was doodling at the garden is the exact same drawing on With One Note's book cover!_**

**_In this chapter, Chloe gives something to Beca that MIGHT turn things around for all of them. Enjoy reading!_**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Once a Bitch**

_When you see my face  
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell  
When you walk my way  
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_And although there's pain in my chest,  
I still wish you the best with a 'FUCK YOU!'_

Beca didn't know how she ended up in this situation. The frazzle in her system and all the singing in the room hotwired the rest of her consciousness. It wasn't just the cracks on her lips or the rumbling sounds in her stomach that stressed her; it wasn't just the overworking of her brain that made her yearn for rest.

Dr. Thornton led a lecture on the arguments between the Traditional Rationalistic View on human nature and Darwin's theory for five straight hours, - leaving Beca's brain and spirit drained of all its functional capacities. Dr. Thornton was flexible in talking and in explaining (as he always was every Thursday morning) but Beca's comprehension was slower than it should be. Beca knew this perfectly, but that didn't stop her from trying. Add the fact that she unconsciously dropped her wallet somewhere on the way to the cafeteria from Thorton's lecture and never retrieved it. She had to endure the twenty-minute walk from the building to Casa Bella… and the empty stomach.

When Beca opened the door, three faces greeted her with furrowed brows and devious smirks. As Beca made her way through the foyer, the singing started. She realized she was to receive yet, another _Harana_ and that she must pause and well – _judge_.

Ashley started the mix. She sang the first few lyrics with considerable energy. Beca found her highly entertaining. The words were expressions of hate but she couldn't help but notice how her cousin enjoyed singing every note. Beca knew that she didn't mean any of it, – that Ashley was simply _singing_. Beca gave a light smile: a gesture which Ashley returned with a friendly grin.

_You come on with it, come on, you don't fight fair,  
But that's okay – see if I care.  
Knock me down. It's all in vain.  
I get right back to my feet again._

When it was Aubrey's turn to sing, Beca's sight dimmed. The blonde dominated the living room with her usual dominating personality – campaigning her undying hate to Beca Mitchell. At one point, Beca had let out a jeering chuckle; Aubrey sang her parts with too much emotion that her performance level turned out so chaotic. To Beca, it seemed more of a revolution cry rather than, well – actual singing.

_Clever layering of lyrics, though_, she complimented. Even the background humming and simple beat boxing was something Beca found to be wonderful. Independently, each factor of the mix was a five-star rating on its own. Add it all up and it proved to be one genius arrangement.

Beca had thought of all this in the span of Aubrey's verse. That was how easy it was for her to ignore the blonde's singing and focus on actually judging the _Harana_ mash-up.

The extent of facileness Beca had in ignoring Aubrey's singing matched the extent of arduousness she next experienced in trying to ignore Chloe's. The redhead, still gorgeous even in her times of pure fury, sang her parts exactly the same way as Aubrey delivered hers. It was full of meant words, full of meant hate. Beca could not fathom why she couldn't resist the temptation to accept Chloe's message.

It wasn't just the cracks on Beca's lips or the rumbling sounds in her stomach that stressed her; it wasn't just the overworking of her brain that made her yearn for rest. It was the hurting in her chest that confused her even more and made her breathing ragged.

_I picture the fool that falls in love with you  
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell  
And truth be told I miss you (Fuck you!)  
And truth be told I'm lying (Fuck you!)_

_Hit me with your best shot!  
Come on! Hit me with your best shot!  
Hit me with your best shot!  
Fire away!_

This wasn't the first time that someone had said '_Fuck you!_' to Beca. She had enough of it from Haull back in high school. And yet, why did every hair in Beca's skin stand with every word that left Chloe's mouth?

Beca noticed her breathing requiring more effort as her pulse started to race.

It was so meant, - the hate, it was all real. It hit Beca at that soft spot – she never had the problem of ignoring insults and detestation… until now. Chloe Beale was angry at her, - Beca got that now.

That explained why Chloe didn't come back to their room last night after she walked out upon learning that the paint cans were gone. That explained why Beca felt a slight strike in her chest when the redhead slammed the door. That explained why Beca didn't have a good sleep thinking if she had pissed Chloe totally. That explained why her roommate didn't talk to her at breakfast. That explained everything; that confirmed everything.

Beca found herself crying like a child. Her brain was in silent tantrums, - asking for the noise to cease, asking for the bullying to stop. _Bullying? Is that even the right word for it? _She questioned herself.

The prevailing music in the living room gathered the rest of the Bellas. They all watched as Aubrey and Chloe sang their hate, and how Beca took all of it as a mere jest. Stacie shook her head at Beca; she couldn't understand how Beca could look so calm despite all this.

While Chloe sang her last two lines, she circled Beca's stance. And with her final note, she slipped a small piece of paper into the upper pocket of Beca's plaid shirt. Beca was too caught up to actually notice. And as the trio exited the scene, Aubrey raised two middle fingers proudly over at Beca's direction.

Then, everything blacked out for Beca. She wasn't in her right mind when she walked out of Casa Bella and hailed a cab back to their own house. And when the driver pulled over, Sebastian was waiting with dollar bills to cover up for the fare. Beca pondered over how her dad knew beforehand that she was coming (and with no cash at hand) and was about to think that her dad was a psychic when at the corner of her mind, she remembered sending a text to him immediately after she mounted the cab.

Beca rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of cold water.

"What do you want for dinner?" Sebastian beamed. Beca didn't answer.

"Bad day?" Sebastian followed up. Beca quaffed from her glass.

Sebastian was used to Beca not returning his inquiries but the tired eyes she wore and the heavy breathing gave off the clue that something wasn't right. "Come on, Bec. You can talk to me." He sat at the counter. "Beca-,"

"Dad! It's none of your business!" Beca yelled – surprising them both.

Sebastian got up and walked to his daughter. "It's okay, honey. It's okay." He slowly leaned in Beca's head against his chest.

Beca was reluctant to the gesture at first, but in the end, found herself clinging and crying to her dad's grey shirt. Sebastian stroke the strands of Beca's chestnut-brown locks as he tightened the embrace around his daughter's tiny frame. Beca was flooding his shirt with previously-held tears. Sebastian continuously rubbed a hand against her shoulder as he let his daughter feel through whatever hurt she was having.

It didn't matter that she didn't say a word about the reason behind the sobbing. Sebastian was rather glad that Beca was courageous enough to face pain… _at last_.

* * *

_[The following morning…]_

Beca walked back into Casa Bella with head held up high. The thick eyeliner highlighted her usual strong-willed eyes (showing no signs of the previous night's crying). She made her to Room 222, avoiding everyone's eyesight along the way. Her eyes accidentally landed to Aubrey who, once more, raised her middle finger at the freshman. This time, Beca raised hers back. Beca smirked, apparently pleased with herself for regaining her sense of pride and false courage.

She was at a happy pace walking to their room and when she swung the door open, Beca scrunched her nose immediately and covered a hand over her mouth. "What the fuck is that smell?!" She blurted out illogically.

As Beca walked deeper into the room, she had let out a vomiting sound. Thank goodness, nothing came out of it "Fuck! I can't breathe!" She dashed to her wardrobe, flung it open and ransacked the drawers until she found an N95 surgical mask. She wore it over her face in half a second and began breathing heavily. Beca then hurried to the windows and flashed them all wide open.

"You know, you could have just said that you don't like my perfume rather than act all _fuckingly_ annoying."

It then sank to Beca that Chloe was also in the room. She realized the little misunderstanding that just occurred but before Beca could utter a word, Chloe was gone (evidenced by the loud smashing of the door).

_Well honestly, I really cannot breathe right now_. _It's like entering the detergent soap aisle of the grocery store_, Beca said to herself in sincere defense.

Chloe was still mad at her (probably much more now that she thought she mocked her perfume).

Beca sat at the edge of the edge of their king bed as she focused on stabilizing her breathing. She remembered the paper Chloe slipped into her pocket last night. Beca read it before she dozed off to sleep but was too tired to internalize it at the time. She searched the pockets of her jeans and smiled when the smooth texture of the stationary paper brushed against her fingers. She pulled it out and unfolded it.

"_Dearest Beca, stop being a bitch. You can do better. ~ O-Chlo._"

Beca stared at the piece of paper for a while, her thumb gently hovering over the ink that spelled Chloe's message. She flipped the paper and noticed an unfinished sketch of a pine tree. From the tearing marks that bordered the note, Beca deduced it was probably a last-minute touch that Chloe had decided to do before putting up the show yesterday. She figured that Chloe tore that page from the doodle pages of one of her notebooks and wrote the simple message at the other side of the paper.

Beca admired Chloe's sense of artistry. Her sketch of the pine tree wasn't even halfway done but it was already soul-penetrating for Beca. She smiled, lifted her mask and placed a light peck on the material.

_Dear fug! It's scented!_ Beca giggled.

* * *

Stacie was tip-toeing around the woods once more. She hated wandering around the trees and had commented how the forest was kinder to her at night time. She knew where she was headed to, but was unsure if she had the map of the woods accurate in her head.

A while after, Stacie heard soft rustling from a far. At that very second, she froze in fear of the unknown. She sprinted towards the nearest tree and rested her back against its sturdy trunk. Her heart raced in rising anxiety.

"BOOO!"

Stacie lost her balance and was looking forward to another messy fall onto the forest grounds but this time, Donald successfully caught her. He was laughing softly.

"Donald! That wasn't funny!" Stacie freed her hand from Donald's grip when she regained her stance.

"Are you gonna tell me why you're wearing stilettos in the woods?" Donald jeered.

"Are you gonna tell me why you're here in the woods?

"And they're not stilettos. They're wedges."

Donald smirked. "I was hoping I'd catch you here again, to be honest."

"Me?" Stacie quirked a brow up. "You were waiting for, me?"

Donald gave an enthusiastic nod.

"And what made you think I'd be passing by this exact route again?" Stacie playfully folded her arms.

Donald shrugged. "I figured you're a frequent visitor over at Theta Pi's and that you love taking the shortcut route along the woods instead of hailing a cab and paying quite the amount."

"Nice."

"Yeah. I was actually-,"

"Hey, Donald?" Stacie took full control of the conversation.

"Yeah?"

Stacie cleared her throat. "Is your friend Jesse at the Treble house right now?"

"Jesse? No uh, he took off pretty early today. I think I heard something about a convention for young artists thing. I'm not quite sure," Donald said.

"Oh." Stacie took a deep breath. "Did Beca come to see him last night? Or this morning?"

"Nope! Jesse was doing a marathon of Harry Potter movies last night. Beca wasn't at the house." Donald narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

Stacie pretended to have found his inquiry absurd and chuckled. "No! No! Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong. Why'd you think of that?"

"Well, you were bombarding me with curious questions." Donald smiled. "Listen, I've got something for ya."

He held Stacie's hand and led her to another tree with an "X" sprayed on its trunk.

"I marked the correct route back to your vicinity so you won't get lost the next time you walk by!"

Stacie found a trail of yellow yarn tied from tree to tree that ended in a blind curve afar.

"This will lead me back easily to Casa Bella?" Stacie confirmed.

"Yeah! I made it for you."

"That's so sweet, Donald." Stacie coaxed. "Look, I need to get going. We have rehearsals," she lied.

"Oh sure, um see you!" Donald walked away as Stacie began trailing along the route Donald had cleared for her.

Stacie picked her phone from her pocket and dialled Aubrey's number.

"Aubrey, hey! Jesse wasn't at the Treble house. I didn't get anything."

"Ugh! I so wanted to know if poor Beca went crying like a little kid after our show last night!" Aubrey scoffed at the other end of the line.

Stacie chuckled. "I know, Aub. Beca didn't come over though – so I can't tell if she resorted to daddy instead. But you know, I think she did shed a tear or two."

"Oh yeah?"

"Postive, Aub! You guys were a blast last night! Chlo especially was at her peak! That should've made her cry like a babe!"

Both girls laughed.

"Good, then – if you're right. She'll be less of a bitch from this point on," Aubrey commented.

"I'll be home in about ten minutes. Shopping spree still on?"

Aubrey smirked. "You bet'cha! I'll get ready!"

* * *

As the usual Saturday morning ruled over Casa Bella, subtle sounds by the grandfather clock and the visiting birds roamed the atmosphere as the girls slept sound in their beds. House renovation duties don't begin 'til around eight.

And also, like last Saturday, a buzz kill went at work.

An alarm tone rang all over Casa Bella, ruining everyone's slumber once again. Every room echoed the loud ringing – leading all girls to get up from their beds.

"I didn't know we have a public address system!" Aubrey yelled over the noise as she dashed out of bed.

Stacie made a quick pit stop at her vanity desk and applied loose powder on her face. "Apparently, Head Bitch got it installed during the renovation this week!" She replied to Aubrey.

All girls were met with a note pasted on their doors.

_"Girls, start preparing for the last Harana video presentation today. I'll be arriving at 6:30 A.M. – everyone should be at the couches all set up for the presentation. See you! ~ Beca."_

The girls assembled at the ground floor and talked among themselves their respective assignments on the set up: Cynthia Rose, Jessica, and Amy went to ensure that their _Harana_ video was working perfectly, Stacie, Aubrey, and Chloe went upstairs to the equipment room to grab the cables and the video projector, and the rest re-assembled the couches (the conversation pit wasn't fully accomplished yet).

"Beca didn't sleep here last night?" Aubrey asked Chloe as they journeyed through the corridors. The redhead shook her head.

"And she didn't say anything about where she went?" Aubrey followed up.

"No. I mean, I wasn't still talking to her," replied Chloe.

"Oh, such pride!" Stacie scoffed!

Chloe chuckled. "Five bucks, says she'll be kinder to us later," she dared.

"Make it ten!" Stacie exclaimed. "The whole PA system thing doesn't sound '_kinder_' to me. Ten bucks, says she's still our dear Head _Bitch_!"

By Beca's deadline, everyone sat lax at the couches, sharing random stories with each other as they waited for Beca to arrive.

"Man, I knew I should've hid a tampon under my pillow last night!" Amy exclaimed.

"A tampon?" Jessica wondered.

"Yeah! In Tasmania, tampons under pillows summon the goddess of good luck!"

"Tasmania sure has deep roots to favoring luck, huh?"

Amy simply heaved a sigh and started jumping in place to cope with the rising nervousness.

* * *

_[After an hour…]_

"THAT IS IT!" Aubrey shouted before walking out of the living room. "Beca is not coming! I am so done with this shit!"

The girls started getting up from their seats right after Aubrey's rant.

"Wait. Is it possible that we, um," Cynthia Rose stuttered on her remark when everyone else turned to her with furious glares. "Ten more minutes?"

"Cynthia Rose, it's been an hour! Obviously, she's not coming!" Stacie yelled.

Jessica unplugged the stereos and the video projector. "Stacie's got a point, Rosie. Beca just ditched us."

It took a while before Cynthia Rose began to accept that Beca wasn't coming. She lent a hand in re-arranging the set-up back to storage.

"We all had to fucking get up at six on a Saturday just so she could ditch us?!" Stacie ranted.

Cynthia Rose carried the video projector and walked behind Stacie and Chloe to the equipment room. "There probably was an emergency, ya know? Something probably came up and-,"

"She should've sent a text, then," interrupted Stacie. "But she didn't, did she?"

Cynthia Rose let out a sigh.

"I don't understand you, Cynthia Rose. Of all people, you should be the angriest one. You worked hard for that video presentation and Beca didn't make the effort to show up!"

They arrived at the equipment room and put back the technologies back to storage.

"I am never falling for another Beca Mitchell trap ever again!" Stacie yelled. She turned to Chloe with burning eyes. "And you owe me ten bucks."

Chloe was sure she heard the brunette mumble something as she walked out. She walked back to Room 222 and laid back in bed. Chloe stared at the red jagged line that divided their bed and found herself actually missing Beca's presence in the room.

Chloe wanted her back, but Beca was relentless in disappointing her. She was positive that her note had somehow made an impact to Beca. And now, a tear ran down her face as fate betrayed her. She meant nothing to Beca, nothing at all.

Stacie's mumbled words resounded in Chloe's head. "Once a bitch, always a _bitch_."

* * *

**_A/N. Leave reviews please! Thank you!_**


	8. Chapter 8: With Just One Note

**_A/N. (I don't own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind Pitch Perfect.) Thank you for the lovely reviews! Keep 'em coming!_**

* * *

**Chapter 8: With Just One Note**

Beca entered Room 222 and found Chloe scribbling at her desk. "Hey," the brunette greeted before hanging her sling bag on the wall.

"That's all you got after ditching the presentation two days ago? Hey?" Chloe scoffed, her voice vibrating with escalating annoyance.

Beca replied with only one word. "Sorry."

The boiling anger inside Chloe led her to her feet and faced Beca. The brunette looked tired for a Monday morning – her eyes a little sunken, her skin paler than usual, and her posture reflecting scarcity of energy. Chloe assumed she hadn't gotten any sleep yet from last night's gig. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Beca?! Cynthia Rose and her group worked their asses off for that video and-,"

"I said I'm sorry! Okay? There was an emergency." Beca wasn't entirely enraged but her voice was raised.

Chloe gulped nervously when she heard her roommate. Cynthia Rose was probably right when she said there probably was an emergency that caused Beca's sudden absence. She was trying to look for words to say when Beca continued explaining.

"My dog died," Beca said flatly.

Chloe's fists clenched; she wasn't buying Beca's claim. "Your dog died? Awww, poor thing. What was it? Cancer? Tuberculosis?" Along with the sarcasm, she folded her arms and quirked an eyebrow upwards. "Rabies?"

Beca narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Just old age, actually."

Chloe was glaring at her. "You wrote in a slam book that your cousin owned that you don't like puppies."

"What?! That thing's still alive?! Ash-Ash! Ugh!" Beca shook her head quickly. "Anyway, that was so fifth grade, Oh-Chlo! Things change. I learned to love dogs."

"It was written in Ashley's girly notebook that you didn't like puppies because they make you sneeze and itch whenever you're near them." Chloe said, holding in the rest of her annoyance. "You're allergic to pets, Beca. That's how I know that you never had a dog."

Beca rolled her eyes. She sat at her side of the bed and kicked her shoes off.

"You give the lamest excuses ever, do you know that?" Chloe mocked. "Cards on the table, Beca! What happened last Saturday?!"

"I slept in," Beca replied immediately before leaning comfortably against the headboard.

"You slept in?"

"Yes. I slept in."

"Is that the truth?"

"You don't believe me?"

"Should I?"

"Why ask me?"

"Beca, should I?"

"I'm not in charge of your decisions."

Chloe glared at her. Her heart was filling with hate once more. No matter how hard she tried, the loathing kept going on. And like the usual _interaction-with-Beca_ ending, Chloe walked out of the room – slamming the door behind her. She held her books tight as she sprinted angrily out of Casa Bella and walked to her first class for the day.

After two hours, Chloe headed straight to the central cafeteria to grab a quick lunch before her next class starts. She was carrying a tray with croissant and a cup of tea on it when she spotted Cynthia Rose and Amy at a table. "Hey, guys. I am apologizing in behalf of my roommate for what happened last Saturday." She sat with them.

Amy chuckled and faced Cynthia Rose. "Beca couldn't get over with apologies, huh?"

Cynthia Rose gave a light smile. "Chloe, please do tell her that it's all forgiven and forgotten."

"You're only saying that because Beca gave a striking compliment on your song choices for the _Harana_," scoffed Amy.

Chloe hopped back into the conversation. "Wait. She what?"

Cynthia Rose chuckled. "Beca went to us early this morning and inquired if she could watch our video. We said yes so we played the little devil on my laptop and the five of us, including my roommate, watched. Afterwards, she praised our song selections and synchronization!" She beamed.

"And we learned about the emergency as well," Amy added.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Of course, her almighty alibi."

"I hope she's feeling fine. Hospitalizations are a bitch," Cynthia Rose commented.

Chloe tilted her head at the freshman in complete bafflement. "Hospitalizations?"

"Yea, Chloe. She was rushed to the E.R. on the morning of our presentation." Cynthia Rose wrinkled her nose as she began to wonder. "Wait. She didn't tell you? Haven't you spoken with her, yet?"

Chloe couldn't find the right words to reply. She obviously wasn't on the same page as the two freshmen she was talking with. "Sh-she got rushed t-to the hospital? That's w-what s-she told you?"

"Beca only said about an anonymous emergency. It was Ashley who told us about the real thing after Beca left our room earlier," Cynthia Rose explained.

She was eager to ask Amy and Cynthia Rose for further details but she thought it best to have it all heard from Beca herself. Why did she lie?

_So she didn't come from a late-night gig last night. She was sick_, Chloe realized.

* * *

_[2 days later…]_

Aubrey laid on her bed while she cuddled a pillow tightly. A few tears ran down her face as she bridled the rest of her pain. She was lost; she didn't know what to do. When everything started to hurt, you're left with strong desire: to reach the light at the end of the tunnel. And yet, for Aubrey, there was no hint of light afar. The tunnel seemed endless.

There was a time when the four walls of her room in the mansion used to provide ultimate comfort and refuge; once, it was a sanctuary that repulsed every throb of the knife and kept her emotionally stable. Now, it served to keep all the pain contained and threatening. It blended with the rest of the Posen mansion in shooting spears towards Aubrey's heart.

Aubrey got up from her bed and moved to her desk. She opened her laptop and tried to look for distractions. Her red, puffy eyes met the screen with such longing for signs that would foretell how everything is going to be alright. Unfortunately, all the biggest social networks she had accounts in, weren't helping. Everything redirected back to hurting.

She suddenly remembered having an unused account in _VentOut dot org_. She created a profile a year ago simply out of curiosity. Aubrey never got to explore the chatting website because she was never this miserable; she was never desperate for a random confidant… until now.

After successfully logging in, Aubrey scanned the directory of online users and opened a conversation with the first name on the list.

**Golden_Emeralds:** "Hey."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Hello. I'm Rykerr."  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "So it would seem."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "What do I call you?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Aubrey."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "…"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "It's okay, Aubrey. You can vent out now. I'll listen."

_For an internet stranger, you're very sensitive. I like it_, thought Aubrey.

**Golden_Emeralds:** "My father got very sick. He was rushed to the hospital yesterday."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Omigod, is he okay?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "I'm not finished yet."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Sorry."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Go on…"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "He's at home now. He still needs intensive care but at least the doctor gave the go signal to send him home. And I'm glad about it. At least, I can take care of him and be closer to him by distance. I'm staying at a dorm in Barden University, btw."  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Anyway, this morning I was doing a tepid sponge bath on Father since he was developing a fever. I also had our cook prepare a nutritious chicken soup for his breakfast. In short, I was busy taking care of him this morning. Everything was going well when my evil sister Regine charged in and made a hell of a mess. Her noisy heels woke Father up! And then that bitch started telling tall tales regarding the on-going debacles in the Bellas that she all accounted on my behalf. I'm not even the Captain anymore of the Bellas, for Pete's sake! Oh btw, it's an all-girl a cappella group. Of course I got so full of her shit, so I answered back and the intense arguing inside the room was ignited. I came to the point of calling her a 'fucking bastard' then Father immediately called my attention. He yelled my name aggressively and stared at me like I'm the devil in the scene. Tears pooled my eyes. That was when I walked out of his room and locked myself in mine."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "…"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Okay, I'm done now."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "You're probably waiting for me to ask you if you're feeling like you were never enough for anybody."

_Wow, he's a damn psychic!_ Aubrey exclaimed in her head.

**Golden_Emeralds:** "I am."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "I know. And I understand how it feels like – devoting your life to impressing someone and failing."  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "That's exactly it!"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "I'm not yet finished, Aubrey."  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Sorry, Rykerr."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "You know your worth. You've done nothing wrong, and they don't get that. Don't mind them much for it. For now, lift your chin up, princess. Your tiara is falling."

_Princess. He called me a princess_, thought Aubrey.

The conversation took longer than Aubrey originally planned it to be. She liked the idea that someone shared the same pain she was having. Aubrey smiled; she got what she needed. Rykerr was a cuddly teddy bear tossed in the air… and Aubrey was the lucky little girl to catch it.

She could go on just like this for hours. Rykerr was pulling thorns off her chest. Aubrey forgot what it was like to be so dependent to someone. She was not always the one to admit that she needed help. Aubrey was grateful that today wasn't one of those proud days.

* * *

_[The next day…]_

Chloe breathed heavily as she carried a couple of academic journals that she borrowed from the library up the stairs of Casa Bella. The day was rough both for her body and her mind. She was craving for rest; she could imagine herself carelessly slumping onto the bed and drifting immediately to rest. A few more steps and she'll be in Room 222.

A few more steps…

"Beca!" Chloe yelped as she saw the brunette on the bed, watching television.

The freshman greeted back. "Hey, Oh-Chlo."

Chloe laid down her things and joined her roommate in bed. She cuddled her pillow as she peacefully lay on her own side of the bed.

"I barely see you in here, Beca." Chloe mumbled.

"Yeah, so I've noticed." Beca's eyes were glued to the television as she spoke.

Chloe's eyes were already shut, but she took effort in continuing with the conversation. "The last time we saw each other, you were lying about having a dog." Her voice was tired and was cracking a little bit.

Beca giggled softly. "You're tired, Oh-Chlo. Sleep."

A thought was recalled by Chloe's mind – leading her eyes to snap open. "No, I'm not." She sat up on bed and faced her roommate.

"Beca, I know why you didn't make it to the _Harana_ presentation last Saturday."

"F'course you do. I told you three days ago," replied Beca.

"No. I know the real reason."

"You didn't trust me. Ouch," Beca joked, her sight still lock to the TV screen.

"Oh, it hurt you. Good," retorted Chloe, her voice raising a little.

This time, Beca turned to Chloe's direction – her deep blue eyes meeting a pair of electric blue ones. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Chloe scooted nearer. "You got rushed to the emergency room last Saturday. That was why you weren't here. Why didn't you just tell me that?"

Beca looked down to her fingers brushing along the hem of her shirt. "How'd you know about that?"

"It doesn't matter." Chloe reached for Beca's hand that rested on her lap and held it gently. "Just tell me, Becs."

Beca stared at the touch for a while. "You're trespassing," she said coldly. Chloe pulled off her hand.

The brunette turned off the TV and took a deep breath before continuing. "I sort of had an overdose on alcohol the night before that, - at a party Jackson took me to," Beca began. "My alarm went off at 4:45 the next morning as I set it up, but I didn't wake up. The noise kept going for like ten minutes straight. That was when my dad got up and checked up on me. Boom. I wasn't breathing."

Chloe cupped both her hands over her shocked expression.

"Actually I was still breathing but barely," continued Beca. "My pulse was weak as well. Dad carried me to the car and drove to the nearest hospital. He figured it was faster than dialling 911 because our house stood ten minutes away from St. Martin de Porres Medical Center. My dad was driving at a great speed at the time so we reached it in just five."

Beca chuckled. "At least, that's how my dad told the whole story. When I woke up in the hospital, it was already noon." She cracked a loud laugh when she noticed Chloe's frozen figure. "Calm down, Oh-Chlo! I got out alive, obviously!"

Chloe illogically threw a slap at Beca's arm. "Stop it, Beca! It's not funny!"

"Damn. It hurts." Beca was rubbing a hand over her arm.

"What did the doctor say?" Chloe inquired.

"I don't think I'm in the mood to get into that. You may not get the whole picture when I tell it; I'm not good with medical stuff-,"

"But I am," she cut off the brunette. "I'm taking my pre-med, remember? I can handle it. Go on, Becs."

Beca rolled her eyes and smirked. "Doc Eaton said something about my liver failing to handle all the alcohol in my body, bla bla bla… I don't know um-,"

"I get it," said Chloe. "For some reason, your liver was unable to properly metabolize and excrete the high levels of ethanol in your blood, causing overall central nervous system depression resulting in slowed heart and respiratory rate… and the poor circulation caused poor perfusion to your brain, knocking you out unconscious while you were in your sleep."

Beca stared at her with eyes wide open. "Wow. You were like, quoting Doc Eaton."

Chloe smiled. "What did Doc Eaton say about the reason your liver was a bitch?"

Beca simply shrugged.

"Remember that night when we first met?" Chloe began. "The night when you threw a left hook at Haull at the resort?"

"Yea, what about it?"

"You lied to your dad about not having a sip of alcohol," recapped Chloe. "Is that why he's so strict with your alcohol restraints? Because your liver isn't exactly… I don't know, um, perfectly functional?"

Beca stared curiously at Chloe. "I guess you can say that, yeah. But it's not like my liver's weak or something. My liver has, um, Alzheimer's – yea that's the best way to describe it! It has Alzheimer's; sometimes, it forgets the stuff it's supposed to do, that's all. It's nothing serious, to be honest. Well, except when the drinking starts."

Chloe shook her head. "I can't believe McDowell let you have too much to drink. I'm disappointed."

Beca chuckled. "McDowell wasn't at the venue, that's why I had too much. He knows about my alcohol hazards."

"Oh," muttered Chloe.

Beca grabbed the remote and switched the television back on – dismissing the whole conversation.

Chloe didn't want the talking to end. Beca finally tried to trust her with something and she wasn't the one to give up reclaiming a '_Jesse Status._'

The redhead cleared her throat before switching to another topic. "So, what's for tomorrow, Captain?"

"Hmmm?" Beca's eyes were again glued to the flashing lights of the TV screen.

"Bellas rehearsals. You kept postponing sessions since Monday," said Chloe.

"Oh, right." Beca took a deep breath. "I'm giving it a free day tomorrow… and on Saturday."

"Saturday? Beca, are you serious? Saturday as a total off-day?"

Beca faced her and nodded. "Aubrey, Denise, and Amy have to attend this leadership seminar for their academic requirements on Saturday, yeah? I'm giving it up so they won't miss anything."

Chloe's forehead creased as her eyes widened. "Becs, the seminar will run for only three hours. You can have all the girls by lunch 'til bedtime on Saturday."

"It is fine, Oh-Chlo. We can always re-schedule. I don't want the three girls to be over-exhausted on Saturday."

"Awww, would you look at that? Beca Mitchell being so sweet to her girls," joked Chloe.

Beca playfully threw the red pillow at Chloe. "Stop that! I'm not sweet!" She growled.

Chloe blushed and giggled.

"Didn't you have stuff to do tonight, Oh-Chlo? The night is still young for you to doze off already."

Chloe pondered. "I don't have deadlines. I'm free to rest."

"Okay then." Beca's sight was back to the television. "One last favor, please?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I dropped my blanket to the floor and I accidentally kicked it towards the darkness under our bed. Can you get it for me?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "You're an awful liar, d'ya know that?"

The redhead mounted off the bed, grabbed her iPhone and ducked to inspect under the bed. The flashlight app she was using wasn't ample to give off anything so she laid on her stomach and crawled into the darkness. At long last, her iPhone gave light to a sheet of striped cloth. Chloe pulled it off and it revealed several paint cans. She forgot that she was under the bed when she screamed and quirked her head upwards with such force – causing the whole bed to shudder.

Beca immediately switched off the television and ran to Chloe. "Chloe! Are you okay?!"

"Ouch."

Beca pulled the redhead out and made her lean back against the bed frame.

"Beca, I hit my head pretty hard." Chloe gently rubbed the back of her head.

"So I gather," replied Beca. "Let me see." The brunette got to her knees and leaned over to Chloe. She gently tilted Chloe's head downwards and inspected it.

Beca's fingers brushing against the strands of her locks cued the butterflies to go rampant in Chloe's stomach. _She cares_, thought Chloe.

"You could've just told me you bought me paint cans instead of fixing that little set up, you know?" Chloe chuckled.

"I didn't buy them," replied Beca. "They're the same paint cans you brought in last week."

Chloe pulled out from Beca's touch and stared straight in her eyes. "You said you threw them out."

"I did throw them out." Beca shrugged. "I threw them out of our room and placed them into the storage room at the basement." She smirked. "You thought I lied to you, again?"

"No. I was just-, I was-," Chloe shook her head quickly. "Don't leave out the details next time, Beca!"

The other girl chuckled as she sat comfortably on the floor. "It never occurred to me that you'd think I actually disposed my roommate's belongings."

"Why did you move the paint cans? Were you trying to get in my nerves at the time?" Chloe inquired.

"No, I wasn't. Like I said before, I couldn't breathe in here so I had to."

"You want me to buy that?" Chloe dared. "You want me to believe you got respiration problems now?" She chuckled.

"I'm really sorry," replied Beca.

It was the most sincere apology Chloe heard from the brunette. It wasn't like the previous ones; this time she felt it in herself.

"Is your head gonna be fine?" Beca asked – her voice reflecting the concern she had. "Tell me it's going to be fine."

Chloe chuckled. "I think the odds are in my favor." Beca helped her back to her feet before they both retreated to their respective sides of the bed.

"Oh-Chlo?"

"Becs?"

"Just tell me the dates when you'll be using the paint cans, yeah? So I can spend the night out of this room. I really don't like the stench." Beca's tone wasn't mocking (or anything of that sort). She was calm and was speaking softly.

"As you wish…"

Beca let out a faint chuckle before her breathing evened out with sleep.

Chloe couldn't help but think about the little adventure she had with Beca tonight. The brunette was kinder, more likeable, and more _attractive_. Beca was obviously making efforts to turn over a new leaf. Her note to her made an impact, after all.

_I did it with one note_, thought Chloe as she gave herself a pat on the back. _I did it with only one note_.

* * *

**_A/N. PS, the liver thing isn't Beca's story, TBH. Chloe's still working her way to decode it. =) Leave reviews and I'll love you forever!_**


	9. Chapter 9: Favorite Escape

**_A/N. (I don't own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind the movie Pitch Perfect). Hmmm, looks like this story's earning some sleuths! Your questions/guesses will all be answered by the proceeding chapters, don't worry. Keep sending in reviews! They'll help me be a better writer! Thank you!_**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Favorite Escape**

Chloe stretched out as the warm rays of a good Saturday sun woke her. She stayed in bed for a while, as she reminisced the smiles and the opened gates from the previous night. She extended her right arm towards the other side of the bed and frowned when she was met with slovenly jumbled pillows and blankets. She sat up and regained her sweet smile when she spotted Beca at the floor busying herself with something.

When the brunette heard Chloe chuckle, she smirked. "Good morning, Oh-Chlo."

Chloe walked over to her. "Good mor-… BECA!" Her eyes widened.

The other girl got up to her feet and clutched a sketchpad tight against her torso. "Don't get mad." She took a big step back as the redhead attempted to seize the sketchpad from Beca's grip.

"Becs, please. Give that back," pleaded Chloe.

"But I'm not yet done with it!"

"Oh you are so done with that, Becs! Give me that!" Chloe chased her around the room, but Beca's tiny frame came to her advantage and let her move way faster. The brunette headed to the door and stood at the corridor.

"Let me borrow this, or I will display every doodle in it on the walls of Casa Bella!" Beca threatened.

Chloe froze, rolled her eyes, and retreated deep into the room. She sat on the common desk by the windows, frowning. Beca got back inside and closed the door. She sat across Chloe and continued hovering over the pages of the sketchbook. The redhead watched as her roommate laid eyes on every sketch she made in that compilation. She had never shown the book to anyone, not even to Aubrey, not even to her parents… and here Beca went – viewing them like crazy. The brunette was apparently taking pleasure in noting the fine details in Chloe's works. She watched as Beca's fingers brushed lightly over the charcoal markings.

There was this particular sketch of a red blood cell in macro view that Beca had spent the most seconds looking at.

"It's an RBC," spoke Chloe as she broke the deafening silence between them.

"I know." Beca's eyes were glued on the sketch. "I'd give your shading skills five stars."

Chloe chuckled. "I would thank you for that, but um, that wasn't exactly a product of varying my hold on the pencil. I differentiated the shades using only kneaded eraser."

Beca's mouth fell agape with Chloe's revelation. "You're not serious, are you? Wow, Oh-Chlo! I'd kneel down to this sketch of yours, but that takes too much effort."

Chloe's forehead creased. "It's not like it hasn't been done before, Becs. I don't see how you're so head over heels in love with that piece of-,"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Beca cut her off. "There is no such thing as an original idea, Oh-Chlo. The world is too old for that. It's just a matter of how you present it in another way."

"Too wise," scoffed Chloe before she chuckled.

"Why the fuck are you on your way to med school?" Beca blurted out.

Chloe narrowed her eyes in confusion. "I'm sorry. What?"

Beca leaned in a little to her. "Why are you taking a medical program instead of pursuing arts?"

"Is that really important?"

"It is. You're my roommate. It sucks that I don't know stuff about you."

Chloe filled her head with hesitation. "W-well, I d-don't know stuff about you too."

"You already had your debut move last night. My amnesiac liver isn't something I simply tell anyone, you know?"

"I thought you said that liver thing was nothing significant? Why hide it from everyone?"

Beca laid back on her seat. "It is – nothing significant, Oh-Chlo. But I don't exactly blurt it out to anyone either because idiots will have this crazy notion of thinking that I'm dying like what the hell! I only got a lazy liver, not cancer!"

Chloe looked down to her hands resting nervously at her lap. "I'm an idiot then, huh?" She spoke low.

Beca realized the mistake that came out of her mouth and backed herself up at once. "N-no! Geez, Oh-Chlo. You're not. You're different." She chuckled nervously.

_Good enough_, thought Chloe in her head. She illogically dismissed the topic aside with a nice note.

Silence ruled quickly around before Beca pushed through with her inquiry. "So why weren't you in an arts program, Oh-Chlo? You obviously have the talent; you obviously have the eye, the hand, the mind-set."

Chloe blushed before she could answer. She raised her head to meet the brunette's curious gaze. _Those damn deep blue irises_, spoke she in her head. But there was no time to completely lose herself in Beca's eyes. Her roommate was waiting for an answer.

"It's what my parents wanted me take," Chloe finally confessed. "They want a doctor for a daughter."

Beca closed the sketchpad and slid it towards Chloe. "It was that easy for you?"

Chloe held an inevitable smile. Beca was reaching out to her; she was getting to know her. At that moment, she took bliss in internalizing how they shared in the same two-way communication.

"Define 'easy'," said Chloe.

"I realize I'm actually asking two things here. (1) Was it easy for you to say yes to them? (2) Was it easy for you to accept the direction you're headed to?"

Chloe squeezed her eyes shut as she carefully said her words. "Yes, and… y-yes."

"Wrong," replied Beca immediately. She was looking straight into her eyes, searching for something, anything.

Chloe was taken aback. "What? You can read me now?" She mocked. Yet at the core of her heart, Chloe found herself at truth. _Yes, Beca. You can read me. Say that you can read me._

"N-not exactly," stuttered Beca as her gaze was being met by widened electric blue eyes.

_No. You just read me, Becs. That's the connection we have. You can see right through me._

Beca broke the exchange of looks. "Are you happy with the way things are, Oh-Chlo?"

"Vague question."

"Are you happy being a pre-med student? Are you happy with what you do?"

"Both yes."

"Wrong again."

Chloe leaned forward. "Just because you stared into my eyes for one second, doesn't mean you can already see my choices."

Beca's eyes locked with Chloe's. "I didn't see your choices. I saw your doubt."

Chloe slouched back in her chair and looked down once more. "I love the arts, I really do. I just don't think I'll excel in that particular field. I have my logic and reasoning and it suits me just fine."

"I've seen the way you envision the renovation of this house, Oh-Chlo. I've witnessed your clever wardrobe choices. I've experienced your persnickety ear for music. I've known the endless horizon of your artistic visions," said Beca. "I think I surpass that fallacious argument of yours."

Chloe blushed even more. "I also have paintings. I'd show them to you right now, but it's in my secret safe here in this room." She laughed.

Beca shrugged. "I have my ways, don't worry."

The conversation continued for the next fifteen minutes. Chloe told Beca all about her family and her childhood: the harmonious relationship between her parents, their three-storey house, the photo albums her mom kept containing memories of their family trips, and many other things that the brunette found so carefree and uplifting to hear about. It wasn't the reminiscing per se that made Chloe smile but the fact that Beca was actually enjoying being told stories about her life.

The chat got halted when Beca invited Chloe to the dining area and have breakfast with the rest of the girls. They were descending the stairs when Aubrey was on her way up.

"Well, good morning, Head Bitch!" Aubrey greeted, stopping the two from their pace.

Beca sardonically grinned at her direction.

"So," Aubrey began as she looked up to the brunette standing at a higher level before her. "What's your almighty plan for the Bellas?"

"I have none yet," replied Beca immediately before she continued taking steps down the stairs. Aubrey held her by her elbow. "Hey! I'm not done talking to you, Beca!"

Beca and Chloe, now on a lower level on the staircase, stopped again and faced the blonde. Beca sighed. "What is it, Posen?"

"When I ask you of your agenda, you give me a sensible answer! You get that?!" Aubrey glared at Beca.

The freshman rolled her eyes. "What part of '_I have none yet_' was not sensible?"

"You're the Head Bitch! You should always have a plan! You should always be filled with ideas! Why don't you – get your little rookie ass up your room and mull things over, huh?!" Aubrey folded her arms arrogantly.

Beca's fists clenched hard. She was starting to breathe fast. "Well blondie, why don't you go to your own room and kiss your-,"

"Girls! Quit it!" Chloe stood between them. "Give it a rest! It's a Saturday morning!"

The arguing women threw one last furious gaze at each other before Aubrey walked away first. Chloe held Beca's hand and led her to the dining area. "Breathe, Beca. Breathe. Aubrey won't be worth your anger."

Aubrey slammed the door hard and locked herself in the room she shared with Stacie. After about two minutes of pacing up and down, she sat on her desk and decided to have her favorite form of escape: _VentOut dot org_. She logged in as Golden_Emeralds and smiled when she saw Rykerr Spence online.

**Golden_Emeralds:** "Rykerr!"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Hey there! What's up?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "I am this close to smacking a brunette's head to cold tarmac!"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Brunette? Who is it?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "I've told you about a certain brunette yesterday, Rykerr. You seriously don't remember her name?"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Uhhh, sorry. I got memory problems, hehe."  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Beca fucking Mitchell. That's her name."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Beca?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "What kind of reaction is that, Rykerr?"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Oh, nothing. Hahahaha. I'm just fond of overreacting sometimes. Don't worry Golden_Emeralds!"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "I told you not to address me by my username. I like my name. Please. Please use '_Aubrey_.' Please."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Alright then, Aubrey.  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "What did Beca do this time, anyway?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Same old, same old. She's the Queenie Bitch of all bitches. I asked her of her plans for the Bellas and she dismissed me easily, saying she doesn't have any. What kind of leader does not have any plans at all?!"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Maybe she has ideas already but hasn't made up her mind yet."  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "We have not had any rehearsal this past week, Rykerr! And it's starting to bother me! The Bellas have never been this lax before!"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Oh. I see.  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "So, you girls are off for the whole day?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "We are."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "You don't seem very happy about it. Aren't you required to attend a leadership seminar today? This Saturday should be a blessing then, instead of a curse."  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "That seminar will push through. Plus, it's only for three hours. The rest of this Saturday will be put to waste by actually skipping on any form of enrichment for the Bellas!"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "You're really committed to your a cappella group, aren't you?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Now you see why Regine made a huge mistake replacing me as Captain."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Hahaha. Don't stress yourself too much, Aubrey."  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "I can't get that little tick off my head! What do I do?"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Talk about other things!"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Hmmm…"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Hold it!"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "What now?"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Have you tried the latest feature of _VentOut_ yet?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Latest feature? What latest feature?"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "It caters to voice communication now!"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Aca-awesome! Let's try it, Rykerr!"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Already on it!"

Aubrey excitingly searched for her external microphone and headphones. After installing the equipment, Aubrey frantically located the voice button on the screen and clicked it. A small window popped up, asking her to choose a voice effect that will alter how her voice will sound in Rykerr's speakers.

**Golden_Emeralds:** "Um, Rykerr?"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "One sec! Can't find my microphone!"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "It's okay. Take your time. I'm just curious about why my settings won't allow me to start voice chat."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "It won't? Why?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "It won't let me proceed without actually choosing a voice effect… and I don't want to use effects."  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "That's the thing, Aubrey. _VentOut_ doesn't want us to use our real voices. Tricky, huh?"  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "What sound effect are you choosing, then?"  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "I always click '_random_.' I like the thrill of not knowing ahead whether or not I will sound hilarious.  
**Rykerr-Spence:** "Excuse me for a minute, Aubrey. I have to borrow my dad's microphone."  
**Golden_Emeralds:** "Sure thing!"

After a short while, a high-pitched robotic voice resounded in Aubrey's ears.

"Hey Aubrey!"

Aubrey laughed. "Rykerr! You sound like a robot!"

"Oh I do now?" He chuckled. Then he started speaking monotonously to deepen the joke. "Hello. My name is Rykerr. I am an android."

Aubrey kept laughing hard. "The weird thing is that, your voice was switched to a very high key. I never thought a robot's voice can be that high!"

"High-pitched robotic voice, I like it!" Rykerr exclaimed. "And you my dear, sound like a febrile extra-terrestrial creature."

"Vague, Rykerr. Vague. How does a febrile extra-terrestrial creature sound like, anyway?"

"I don't know! I just feel like you sound one." He giggled.

Aubrey took one deep breath to recover from laughing. "Where were we?"

"You were about to tell me about something," replied Rykerr.

"Oh, right." Aubrey cleared her throat. "My roommate, Stacie, went back to Casa Bella with a serious hangover from last night's fraternity party. Before she hit the sheets, she told me this one intriguing story that happened at the party."

Rykerr cleared his throat. "Are you sure you're okay telling an internet stranger about your roommate?"

"Oh, it's fine. She told the story as if it was a big joke, anyway. I don't think she'll mind… And you're not exactly a stranger anymore, Rykerr."

Rykerr chuckled at the end of the line. "Cool," was all he could mutter.

"So," continued Aubrey. "There was this Treblemaker guy that she used to meet in the woods. He was at the same party the previous night. There were drinks and, wait for it… _Spin the Bottle!_"

"Uh-oh. Bad combination."

"I know, right?!" Aubrey exclaimed. "So they both joined and when it was Stacie's turn to spin, the bottle pointed on him. She gave him the kiss and from that short but wet kiss, more events sprouted. They looked for an empty room in the frat house and sang _karaoke_ for one good hour. The Treble stole a kiss and bam! Lights out. Clothes off. You know what happened next."

Rykerr stuttered. "A-are you s-sure it w-was okay f-for me to hear that? I mean, why do you even find her story funny?"

Aubrey chuckled. "It's fine, Rykerr! Stop worrying. She thought it was funny, so I thought it was funny. From that experience, Stacie developed this little theorem about the difference between entertaining a frat boy and a Treble."

"Well, Aubrey. Your roommate sure is-," Rykerr got cut off by the sudden knock he heard from Aubrey's room. "Woah. I think someone wants in."

The knock on Aubrey's door went non-stop, following no rhythm which made it slightly annoying. "Aubrey! Open up!"

"Ugh! It's Beca. Excuse me for a while, Rykerr. I'll just dispose of her." Aubrey heard a faint laugh before she removed her headphones off her ears. She grunted in vexation and went to open the door.

"What is it now, Beca?!"

The smaller girl looked down, her mouth pouting and her brows reflecting resentment. Both her hands hid behind her. When Aubrey noticed this, she nervously took one step back. "Beca, if that's a knife you're holding, I'm going to have to warn you! I know _Karate_!" The blonde raised her tightly-spread out palms in front of her.

Beca slowly brought her left hand upfront, revealing a cupcake in her grip. She held it out to Aubrey without saying a word.

Aubrey narrowed her eyes in confusion and returned to her normal stance. "That's poisoned, isn't it?"

Beca, with the mad look still evident in her face, shook her head. Aubrey deduced her facial expression as hate that was surprisingly not directed towards her. It was a different kind of glare – as if knocking on her door was something Beca was forced to do. The blonde slowly received the cupcake from Beca's held out arm. Beca walked off right after. When Aubrey closed the door, she heard Beca yell along the corridor.

"There, Chloe! I gave the apologetic cupcake already! You happy now?!" Followed by loud slamming of another door.

Aubrey shook her head playfully and giggled, took a bite of the cupcake, and returned to her desk.

* * *

_[5 days later…]_

Beca lost herself in the music she was creating. Headphones were glued to her ear, and her fingers busied themselves with the controls of the mixer in front of her. She bobbed her head along with the beat, letting the disco lights highlight her passion. The club crowd was going crazy; everyone was hyped at the dance floor – losing themselves in Beca's mix as well.

Beca's previous gig didn't end on a nice note; she ended up breaking Gregory Haull's nose. It's been quite a while, and now that she's utilizing the opportunity Luke Jackson gave her, she counted the night as one of her best ones yet. It was her favorite form of escape. All her worries were brushed behind, and nothing mattered to Beca at the moment. This was the bliss music always brought her.

As she finished her last set for the night, Beca took a deep breath as she prepared herself for the return of all her burden.

She climbed down the stage and happily headed towards McDowell's mobile bar, but before she could settle herself, Haull mockingly threw an arm around her neck. "Hey, babe!"

Beca shoved him off. "Don't let me break your nose again, Haull… Or did you want me to break something else in you?" She retorted.

Haull led her to the bar and ordered two Martini shots. "Why are you here being an idiot?! Weren't you satisfied with stealing most of my gigs?! I don't like Martini, by the way," said Beca, her voice vibrating with escalating annoyance.

The Treblemaker ignored her and shifted to a new subject. "So, how are the Bellas doing? Ready for more humiliation?"

Beca threw a deadly glare at him. "Actually… yes. I'd love to see you covered in filthy mud – overwhelmed by all the humiliation an idiot can have in his entire life."

Haull was too smug about successfully annoying Beca. "I dare you to… if you can." He cast a devious smirk. "Next month. Theta Pi house. Bring your Bella minions with you and watch us tackle you with our _Annual Voices Show-off _first place trophy."

Before Beca could reply to his invitation, McDowell returned with the drinks. Haull picked up his glass and stood. "I'll be expecting your ass there, Beca. Prepare to lose awfully."

He took off, saying "Enjoy your Martini!" as he walked away.

Beca leaned over and rested her chin against the back of her hand as it lay flat on the counter. McDowell placed another glass in front of her. "Bourbon Lancer for Deejay Beca."

The brunette found herself smiling sweetly at the bartender. "What about that Martini?"

McDowell shrugged. "Well, there's this party girl though – who orders at least 3 shots of it when she's here. She'll be grabbing your Martini any second now."

Beca chuckled. "Thanks, McDowell… for the Bourbon."

* * *

_[The next day…]_

The Bellas were eating breakfast at Casa Bella. Chloe wondered where Beca was while Aubrey kept talking about Rykerr Spence and their voice chats all throughout the week. Everyone was enjoying their food when Ashley charged in and started yelling.

"BELLAS! You need to see this! Come, quick!" She gestured for them to follow her, and the rest of the girls did. Ashley led them to the third floor of Casa Bella, which had had the sign board '_no entry_' at the entrance ever since the house renovation started… Well, not until now.

Aubrey and Chloe rushed in front, and were surprised to be met with a panorama. Before them stood two accomplished rooms: a recording studio with full equipment at the left, and a dance studio complete with mirrors and bars on the other side.

"Wow. Just… wow." Chloe said as she stared around with wide eyes.

The girls roamed around the floor, admiring delicacy of the set-up. Aubrey, still stunned, froze at the middle of the dance studio. "This is so rich, Beca. So fucking rich."


	10. Chapter 10: Cornflakes

_**A/N. (I do not own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind the movie Pitch Perfect.) Hey guys! Sorry, this chapter took long!**_

* * *

**Chapter 10: Cornflakes**

Chloe beamed when she spotted Beca at her desk, busying herself with a mix. She closed the door behind her and walked over to the brunette, silently watching from behind. Chloe suddenly grabbed Beca's headphones and took it off her head – startling the freshman.

"Boo!"

"Oh-Chlo! What the hell?!" Beca stood and faced the redhead, only to find her hiding the wireless headphones behind her back. Chloe sported a playful grin, which Beca responded to with a half glare.

"Loosen up, Becs!" She handed it back to Beca.

"I told you not to touch any of my stuff." Beca spoke low before facing her laptop again. Sighing, she closed the lid and laid the headphones beside it.

"You're not gonna let me hear your stuff?" Chloe inquired.

Beca walked to their bed, opening the television as she settled comfortably against the headboard. "I don't like people hearing my stuff."

"But you play mixes in Jackson's events," replied Chloe.

"Those mixes are different from the ones I spin with my own equipment. The ones on my drive are special."

_And I happen to be the one without the privilege to your special stuff_, thought Chloe in her head as she frowned.

"The studios were beautiful, by the way." Chloe shifted the core of the conversation as she joined the brunette in bed. "Aubrey was most appalled yesterday morning. She spent about two hours babbling about how the Bellas can have better rehearsals at the new venue."

Beca chuckled. "Now, the Bellas can ditch the ol' gym and have a more decent place to practice in."

Chloe couldn't agree more. It was probably the best thing that's ever happened to the Bellas during her entire stay.

"I'm actually planning on making the annex a mini auditorium," continued Beca – her eyes locked on the TV (as usual). "You know, so we can have mini performances for guests."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Beca, you don't have to. That would already be too much."

"Wasn't asking for your permission, Oh-Chlo." She faced the redhead. "Too bad the workmen already know what to do with it." She smirked.

Chloe smiled. Everything that had changed in Casa Bella was a mere reflection of all she ever dreamed about. "Seat capacity?"

"100 cushioned chairs."

"Sweet!"

"Yeah."

There was a short silence before Chloe had the guts to open another topic. "Becs, it's been two weeks since our last rehearsals. What do you have for today?" She asked calmly.

Beca simply shook her head.

"Becs?"

Beca didn't move – making Chloe fill with anger. The brunette laughed at the joke from the television – completely putting Chloe into invisibility. The redhead illogically went and unplugged the TV from the electrical outlet. Enraged Beca had her mouth falling agape.

"You know what?!" Chloe started, her voice louder… and angrier. "Nothing has changed, Beca! You'll always be that bitch everyone in this place loathes! Aubrey was right. A good leader always have plans. And you don't even have ideas!"

"Oh-Chlo, I-,"

"Save it!"

"Chloe, don't cut me off!" Her voice was pleading. She was pleading for her to listen. She was pleading for Chloe to try two things: (1) to believe in her and, (2) to understand her.

"Why? So more shit can come out of your mouth?!"

"Chloe-,"

Beca found her chest compressing a little at the sound of the door slamming very hard following Chloe's exit.

_I seriously don't know what to do_, Beca thought.

She curled in bed as tears flowed out of her eyes. Chloe was mad at her again. Everything she did seem to have set the redhead off. If there was one girl in Casa Bella who Beca hated to see with anger, it was Chloe. So far, she was doing an awful job at it. Chloe was upset at her and she always will be.

_She always will be_, thought Beca.

* * *

_[Later at night…]_

Stacie walked briskly along the woods, her flashlight highlighting the guide wires Donald had set for her. There was another party at the Theta Pi house but she decided to go home early. The way Donald made marks on the trees was a big help; since then, she had always reached Casa Bella faster than usual. Walking by same correct path also gave Stacie the warm comfort of not hearing anonymous sounds from a distance. Well, she had heard tiny noises but they were always from Donald sneaking behind the marked trees.

There was some rustling behind her. Stacie paused. She rolled her eyes and turned around. "Hey, Donald."

The Treble grinned. "Hey."

Stacie returned his greeting with folded arms and a sarcastic smile.

"Please don't tell me you can't make for a short talk right now." Donald squeezed his eyes shut and playfully raised crossed fingers.

Stacie chuckled. "Walk with me?"

Donald lit his torch and journeyed the woods with Stacie.

"Last night was great, by the way," commented Stacie.

Donald smiled. "You were great for two consecutive nights."

The two had agreed on a casual relationship since the night they played _Spin the Bottle _at a party. Donald worried that he might be getting Stacie into trouble by sleeping with her, but the tall brunette assured him she'll be fine; the Bellas had a turnover of authority and the traditional '_no sexual relationship with a Treble' _had been revoked for a while now.

The twigs snapping as they both took their own steps became the only sounds around the vicinity. Stacie had nothing more to say to the Treble and was humming a song in her head. Donald on the other hand, had one more agenda – and he was trying to build up the courage to spill it out. He held Stacie's hand – stopping both of them from their pace. Donald reached into his jacket and a majestic red rose revealed itself. He took a small sniff of it before gently handing it over to the Bella.

"What's this?" Stacie inquired – completely baffled.

"This would be me, asking you out to dinner." He smiled.

Stacie froze. She opened her mouth and tried to speak but no words came out. It wasn't a lovely surprise; suddenly, everything about the two of them blurred boundaries. '_No strings attached_' meant no connections forming… and this definitely, was a panorama of attached strings.

"Stace?" Donald's eyes were full of hope. He liked the Bella from the very first time they met in the woods.

"Goodbye, Donald." It was rude – what she just said; she knew it was uncouth. There were nicer ways by which she could've rejected him, and this wasn't one of those.

Stacie walked the rest of the path by herself. She couldn't do what Donald expected her to do; she just couldn't.

* * *

Beca went to the third floor and entered the recording studio. She took a good stare around and smirked. She headed straight to the booth and sat. Her eyes were shut and she was humming a tune. Her body craved for alcohol; for escape. She had not seen Chloe since she walked out this morning.

Her attempt to be at peace with herself got halted by soft knocking. Beca turned her chair around and saw Cynthia Rose standing by the door frame.

"May I come in?" She smiled at the brunette.

Beca gestured for her to sit with her.

"What's up?" Beca inquired, trying to sound happy.

Cynthia Rose took a deep breath. "We need you, Capt," she began. "Badly."

Beca raised her head to meet Cynthia Rose's begging gaze. "Oh, right. I'm a bitch for not having plans for the Bellas." She frowned as Chloe's hurtful words resounded in her head.

The other freshman slowly shook her head as she threw a half smile. "You're not. You're our new Captain who is confused and does not know what to do to make her girls like her."

Taken aback, Beca leaned back to her chair. "Well that's new."

"Was I right?"

Beca looked down and nodded shamefully.

"You know," Cynthia Rose continued. "I have a PhD in listening." She threw a friendly smirk, which Beca returned with a sweet smile.

"Spill?"

"Spill!"

"Chloe is mad at me." Beca's voice sang a tune of sadness. "She was mad at me for being so strict with rehearsals. Everyone was mad at me for being so strict. Then I tried to change plans and gave free days whenever one of my girls needed to be out for any reason. I tried to become accommodating, but Oh-Chlo still hates me.

"It's like – when I do something, she gets mad at me, and when I don't do anything, she still gets mad at me. Nothing seems to make her like me. It's hard to have a roommate who hates you."

Cynthia Rose chuckled. "Chloe doesn't hate you. She's actually very worried about you."

Beca narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Well, she sounded so concerned this morning," she mocked.

"I heard her at lunch today. She's worried that a lot has been bothering you and that since you won't let her in, she couldn't get a way to help you."

Her statement made Beca stand from her chair and pace up and down the booth. "Wow! What a martyr! And that came from the girl who's fond of cutting me off when I try to actually speak!" She raised her annoyed voice.

Cynthia Rose remained calm in her seat. "I don't know the issue between Chloe and you, but I think you need to sort it out as soon as possible. You can't stay mad at her for-,"

"I'm not mad at her," Beca blurted out. "I couldn't be mad at her. I don't know why."

The other girl smiled. "I know why." She leaned back to her chair. "Beneath that tough attitude hides a big, kind heart."

Beca paused from her pace and fondled the buttons on the control panel in the booth. "You're wrong. If that were the case, I would've also found it hard to bitch with Aubrey and Stacie."

"I'm right. I know I'm right. Whatever your story is, it's suppressing your real kindness in some ways. You're not a bitch." Cynthia Rose chuckled. "You never were. It's probably all just a mask." She stood and headed for the door.

"I don't know what to do, Rosie."

Cynthia Rose paused and turned back to her. "Yeah, you do. Either that, or you're just about to figure out." She smiled sweetly at the other freshman. "You don't need anyone to be a good leader – that's how strong you are."

And with those last words, Cynthia Rose was gone and Beca was left pondering in the booth.

_We need you, Capt – badly_, Cynthia Rose's words echoed inside Beca's head.

* * *

_[Meanwhile…]_

Chloe was staring at a white wall with kitchen knives of different sizes and colors stabbed all over it so that its handles spelled "_Life is Beautiful._" It was an art of about eleven feet in height and was one of the dominating entries in the gallery.

The redhead could not get Beca off her head. She knew she had to say what needed to be said but she could not stop herself from thinking if she had gone too far. The _International Art Expo_ at the local museum was something Chloe awaited for excitingly over the past weeks. She skipped on a couple of meals during the start of the academic year so that she could buy an entrance ticket to the event. Chloe supposed that indulging herself in the various works of art in the gallery would make her forget about Beca, – that the art expo would be the ultimate distraction. Unfortunately, Beca Mitchell was the core of her thoughts all night.

A guy in dark blue plaid shirt stood beside Chloe. He scribbled continuously in his pocket notebook as he took glances of the knife art. "Artist… Farhad Marshri, Iranian," the guy spoke to himself as he wrote the words.

"Moshiri," Chloe corrected. "Farhad Moshiri, not Marshri."

"Oh… Thanks." He crossed out his mistake and re-wrote what Chloe said.

Chloe stared at him as he did. She tilted her head at him as she studied the features of his face. "Jesse?"

He met her gaze. "Do I know you, miss?"

Chloe smiled. "I'm Beca's roommate."

"Chloe! Right!" Jesse beamed as he dug into memory lane.

"I didn't know you're an art enthusiast as well," she commented after Jesse finished jotting things down.

Jesse chuckled. "Not much, actually. My mom's part of the organizing committee of this expo and I'm supposed to drive her home so I have to wait 'til this whole thing's over. And to kill time, I decided to roam around."

"Still. The fact that no one forced you to take down notes of the art entries categorizes you as an '_art_' guy."

Jesse shook his head. "I'm no '_art_' guy. I only entertain these works of art so I can practice generating themes and underlying messages by the artists. I'm into OST's; someday I want to be that guy behind movie soundtracks. And to be a great one, I need to master playing with themes."

"Yeah, Beca once told me you're kind of obsessed with soundtracks."

"_Obsessed_? Is that the word she uses?" Jesse laughed.

Chloe's forehead creased. "Well, according to Beca, you could immediately tell whether the film composer was from Europe or American…"

"Yeah, I can."

"So, what are you? A _John Williams_ guy? Or are you a _Hans Zimmer_ one?"

Jesse smiled as his head filled with good impression of the redhead. "Well, aren't you full of surprises, Chloe? I didn't know you bite classical music as well."

"I bite any form of art." Chloe shrugged. "So, _Williams_ or _Zimmer_?"

"I usually go for European musicians but between the two options you presented, I'd have to go for John Williams… I'll always go for John Williams!" Jesse noticed the uncomfortable look on Chloe's face. "_Oooppps_. Sorry. I didn't realize you were a _Zimmer_ kid."

"I'm not."

"Then what's your cup of tea?"

Chloe bit her lower lip as her face grew a more queasy expression. "I-, uh I-don't… You'll judge me for it!"

Jesse sank his hands into the pocket of his jeans. "No, I won't! I promise I won't. Feel free to spill it out."

Chloe held her breath for two seconds before squealing "_Yann Tiersen_."

Jesse's eyes widened and he illogically blurted "What?!" out loud. He immediately noticed the little attention he grabbed from the gallery and cuffed a hand over his mouth.

"You told me you wouldn't judge!" Chloe slapped a hand to his arm.

Jesse spoke half-whispering, "Chloe, he's not even a legit film composer! You know he isn't!"

"Yeah, but I have a thing for French musicians," replied Chloe – embarrassed. "And I really liked his _Amelie_ OST."

Jesse raised an eyebrow at her. "Chloe, I was asking for your favorite composer. I'm pretty sure you can see the thick line between a composer and a musician."

"Okay, fine. All kidding aside, I'm a _Desplat_ girl."

"_Desplat_. Good pick."

Chloe chuckled. "It's cool, though – how you reacted to _Tiersen_. Most _OST-enthusiast-hopefuls _would simply nod at the very sound of his name."

"Woah. So that was a test that I passed?"

Chloe bit a finger. "You're not mad, are you?"

Jesse crunched his nose as he smiled. "Nahhh. Let me have my payback, though." He cleared his throat as he faced Moshiri's art. "What does this knife art tell you?"

"What does it tell you, Jesse?"

"I asked you first."

"Whatever you're thinking is most certainly wrong… if not, superficial," scoffed Chloe.

Jesse folded his arms. "Yeah? Fine. Let's see. Um, Moshiri used knives to spell '_Life is beautiful_' to highlight the paradox of using every day, lethal objects to present a positive statement. It's basically sarcasm, so to say."

Chloe chuckled. "I knew it. Superficial."

"Then what's your take in this, _Michaelangelo_?"

Chloe took a deep breath. "It's more than just easy sarcasm. It's a deeper representation of the thought that - how come something that brings pain can create something beautiful?"

"Woah… I never saw it that way," Jesse muttered.

Chloe expounded on her interpretation. "These knives make the white wall mean something. With just one knife stabbed on it, the white wall is plain, boring, uninteresting."

"The same goes with life," continued Jesse. "With no much painful trials, life is plain, boring, uninteresting."

Chloe nodded. "Exactly."

"Wow, you're basically the definition of '_art enthusiast_,' Chloe," complimented Jesse. "Just like Beca described."

Chloe's brows arched as he mentioned the brunette. "Beca has told you stuff about me?"

"Uh-uh. Tons of cool stuff, actually." Jesse leaned in a little closer to her. "Just between us two? I think she likes you."

Chloe blushed.

"You're speechless… so you must like her back," Jesse continued.

"I'm really that obvious, aren't I?" Chloe joked.

Jesse chuckled.

Chloe took the perfect opportunity to ask Jesse about Beca. The Treble was delighted that they started on that topic. He invited Chloe to a nearby coffee shop and settled there to talk.

"I can't get her to trust me," Chloe started.

Jesse took a sip of his mint tea. "Maybe, it's because you don't trust her back."

Chloe sighed. "I- I don't understand."

"There must be some things Beca told you that you are doubting, Chloe. It's Beca we're talking about here, so there must be. So what is it?"

"Remember when she got rushed to the E.R. last week? She told me she has this dysfunctional liver…"

"And?"

"And she said it was nothing… Jesse, a dysfunctional liver isn't nothing!"

Jesse laughed. "So, you don't believe her words. I told you – it's simply a problem of reciprocating trust."

"Jesse, is Beca dying?"

Jesse laughed even louder. "She's not dying, for Pete's sake! Chloe, when she told you her liver thing was nothing to worry about, it really was nothing to worry about. You can go ask Mr. Mitchell for confirmation."

Chloe took Jesse's words in and accepted the probability that she was simply overreacting.

"The only thing you need to worry about, is Beca having too much alcohol. Keep her caged and she's fine," added Jesse.

He leaned in to her from across the table. "Listen, Chloe. I really like you for Beca. The fact that she's told you about the liver thing? It simply implies that you mean to her more than everybody else. That should put you out of anxiety zone. It's not Beca's habit to disappoint people that matter to her."

"That doesn't assure she's going to just tell me honest stuff." Chloe frowned.

Jesse tapped his fingers playfully at the table before speaking. "Here's a tip: Beca's favorite breakfast is her bowl of cornflakes, yeah? Catch her eating and seize her beloved cornflakes. It's the perfect blackmail. You can actually find yourself drowning with genuine Beca Mitchell answers."

"That really works?!" Chloe inquired enthusiastically.

He nodded. "That strategy got me knowing first when she started drinking." He took a generous nip of his mint tea. "Plus, you can get her to agree on anything."

"Oh, can I?" Chloe was like a little kid excited to enter the playground.

Jesse shrugged. "Depends on how much she cherishes her cornflakes… For the record though, Beca really loves her cornflakes."

"But I seldom catch her at breakfast," she started to frown.

"That's because she eats earlier than the rest of you. Before Beca cooks breakfast for the Bellas, she eats her own meal first. She's not used to eating with a lot of people, that's why."

It all made sense now. Chloe used to think that Beca loathed breakfast meals. It never occurred to her that Beca eats before she does the Bellas' breakfast. She ate alone (while everyone else slept) so that she wouldn't have to endure the burden of having to talk to people at meal time.

Chloe smiled. "I'm really glad we had this conversation."

"Yeah, me too," replied Jesse after he chuckled. "At least I know she's taken good care of at Casa Bella… Less babysitting chores for me."

Chloe laughed. She took pleasure in thinking that she was already doing the same thing: looking out for Beca. And she's important to Beca – that's big.

_The Jesse Status, huh_…

* * *

**_A/N. So what do you guys think of this chapter? It wasn't um, 'hurried,' was it? =/_**


	11. Chapter 11: We Good

**_A/N. (I don't own most of the characters and certain parts of the plot. Courtesy goes to the creative team behind Pitch Perfect.) The reviews I'm getting were lovely! Allow me to reply to some…_**

**_Cxcxcx386, I know I've been updating soooooo slow. I got assigned to the operating room and things have been so hectic since. Don't worry! The reviews I'm getting encourage me a lot to write faster, so I'm doing everything to improve for my readers._**

**_OTPbechloe, yes, a little slow… I already cut some of the scenes but I couldn't get the pacing to be swifter. Each event in this story plays a big role in the last chapters. I want my readers to get a good look at the personalities of the characters through the choices that they make._**

**_iamtitanium, all that Jesse and Chloe discussed (at the expo and when they had coffee) were necessary; I'm going to give you a little heads-up… I wrote the talk about movie soundtracks to give my readers the idea that Chloe has a natural gift of getting along with basically EVERYONE (because she loves all sorts of art), and that her upcoming relationship with Beca will not be based on having 'common grounds' because that would make their connection less special than the connections Chloe makes with everyone else. Chloe's interpretation of Moshiri's art highlights the way she sees life (It'll come very important later in the story, I promise.). =)_**

**_Oh, and I uploaded a new story cover for With One Note! Tell me what you think of it! Thanks!_**

* * *

**Chapter 11: We Good**

_[Two days later…]_

"Alright, Bellas! Listen up!" Aubrey yelled.

The girls in the dance studio gathered before her. They were all in their comfortable working clothes – ready for some moves… and possible cardio. The day had already been stressful to most of them so the atmosphere wasn't really enthusiastic at the moment. Everyone hated Monday afternoons.

"Aubrey, what is this?" Chloe inquired.

Aubrey rested her hands proudly on her hips. "It's time we get our heads back into the game. I'm assigning tasks for Sectionals."

"Don't you think it's too early to be planning for Sectionals, Aubrey?" Stacie hopped in.

Aubrey shook her head. "If we want to be champions, we have to work hard."

Chloe cleared her throat. "You must be forgetting… You're not captain anymore; Beca is."

The blonde's lime green eyes narrowed over at Chloe's direction. "Well, she's not here, is she? She hasn't been here as captain for the past two weeks… has she?

"Well I'm here to save our sorry asses from a horrible _crash and burn_ incident," continued Aubrey when Chloe didn't return her inquiries.

Aubrey checked the attendance and grunted in vexation when she realized Cynthia Rose wasn't around. She reminded the Bellas of the golden rule: _Don't be tardy or pay fifteen bucks_. She gestured for the girls to settle down on the floor and held out a small sheet of paper from her pocket. As she began speaking again, Beca walked in, wearing working clothes as well.

"Sorry I'm late," Beca said.

Chloe found herself smiling and blushing at the sight of the brunette. _Some things really never change, _she thought.

The rest of the Bellas owned widened eyes; they were taken aback by the brunette's entrance. It had been two weeks since Beca associated with the group regarding Bella matters. The last time she did, she got everyone else pissed for ditching them off.

Beca dropped her face towel and water jug before approaching Aubrey's stance. "Well?" Beca said when the blonde didn't move an inch after she stood before the rest of the Bellas. "I'm here now."

Aubrey was burning holes at Beca with her furious glare. Tight-lipped, she folded her arms and continued gazing angrily at the freshman. Stacie got up from the floor and went over to where the two girls stood. She gently took Aubrey's hand and led her to sit with the rest of the Bellas. It had been a while since the last time Aubrey and Beca fought for authority.

Beca discussed the _Annual Voices Show-off_ event to be held at the Theta Pi auditorium. She told them that she already had the Bellas signed into the competition and were to fight against the Treblemakers, the BU Harmonics, and the High Notes. Beca argued that the competition will give the group good exposure to the public.

The Theta Pi fraternity held the annual friendly competition since 2003, but it wasn't until weeks ago that it blossomed to be a big upcoming event. For the first time, they announced the registration open to all a cappella groups; on the previous years, contestants were all handpicked and invited by the heads of the fraternity.

It was the very same competition that Haull challenged Beca to but Beca argued to the girls instead that the reason why she signed the Bellas up was that so they could have good exposure as a group.

Beca exited the dance studio to get her laptop from Room 222 after disclosing the competition's details. While the rest of the Bellas took a short break in her absence, Cynthia Rose barged in – panting. "I am so, so sorry. I didn't mean to come in very late but-,"

Aubrey cut her off. "No excuses. You're late. Pay up. Come on. Fifteen bucks." Aubrey held out her hand as she waited for the freshman to hand in her penalty fine.

Cynthia Rose hesitated for a while before stuttering, "I-I can't p-pay today. I don't h-have a penny right n-now. S-sorry." She looked down and covered herself with shame.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "F'course you don't have cash right now," she jeered. "You spend everything in gambling! Maybe next time, you'll knock some sense into your brain and quit that crazy habit of yours!"

"Aubrey!" Chloe yelled from her stance. Everyone else in the dance studio silenced down at the turn of events.

"Shut it, Chloe!" Aubrey yelled back before turning to face Cynthia Rose again. "Your little gambling attitude doesn't have a place here in the Bellas, especially if it makes you tardy and financially broke. Got it?" Her voice was hard.

The voice that responded wasn't Cynthia Rose's. "Yes. She gets it, Aubrey," said Beca mockingly as she leaned against the doorframe. Apparently, she was listening the whole time.

Cynthia Rose turned and smiled when she saw Beca dressed for rehearsals. The brunette walked over to her and addressed Aubrey one last time, "Your obsession with online chatting doesn't have a place in the Bellas as well, you know? Especially if it makes you… Mmmm…" Beca tapped her chin as if she was really thinking "More… _blonde_… and annoying," she retorted. She had been hearing stories about Aubrey's growing friendship with an online stranger. Every time, at breakfast, Aubrey would talk enthusiastically about how admirable _Rykerr Spence_ was.

Aubrey's fists clenched hard. Everyone else were taken aback by Beca's words. Realizing she was helpless, Aubrey walked out of the dance studio.

_Bad move, Becs. Bad move_, thought Chloe in her head.

"One bitch out!" Beca perked up with a happy tone as the blonde senior left. "Let's start rehearsals!" She went to assemble her laptop to the stereo and began with the set list she had prepared for the show-off.

* * *

_[Later that night…]_

Stacie stayed in bed as she listened to a playlist. Beca ended the rehearsals early so the night was too young for her. Nothing seemed interesting to her at the moment. Aubrey was quiet in her own little world. After an encounter with Beca, the blonde would usually pace up and down the room… and rant endlessly. Tonight she was silent, their room was silent. There was no noise around except for the tapping of keyboard keys that Aubrey's finger made – instead of ranting out loud, the blonde decided to let it all out on Rykerr Spence.

Stacie rolled her eyes. She liked her roommate better when she was raucous with words rather than as a young adult addicted with online chatting.

A few minutes later, her phone buzzed. Stacie went to pick it up and sighed when she saw Donald's name on the screen.

"_Stace. Meet me in the woods in ten minutes. Tell ya something. ~Donald_"

She didn't want to further receive any of Donald's romantic gestures. That was probably what the meeting would be about. She had had enough of make-out buddies falling for her. But she was bored at the moment, and the night was still young, - so she decided to go.

"No roses this time, okay?" Stacie muttered as he approached the Treble leaning against a tree.

Donald chuckled and shook his head. "No roses."

Stacie hid her hands in the pockets of her sweater to combat the night's chill. "What's up?"

"You're not the commitment type of girl, are you?" Donald smiled.

"No, I'm not."

"Good." Donald got up to his balance and walked over to Stacie. "We can continue being fuck buddies, then."

Stacie raised a brow. "The last time we spoke, you were like… _Oh hi! I'm asking you on a date! Oh my love! My loving-_,"

"It was a stupid test." Donald interrupted.

The tall brunette tilted her head as she filled her head with bafflement. "A test? Are you fucking kidding me?" She wasn't angry.

Donald chuckled. "Yeah. The rose was a scam. I wanted to make sure you weren't the relationship type." He playfully winked at her.

"You idiot." Stacie grinned.

He laughed. "Yeah, I kinda get that a lot."

Stacie ran a hand through her hair. She heaved a sigh of relief as the details came clear to her.

"So," Donald began. "There's another party in the vicinity on Friday. See you 'til then?"

Stacie walked closer to him and held him close by his waist. "Why don't we begin tonight?" She whispered before closing the gap between their lips.

She kissed him hard, her feelings turned off. Unfortunately, Donald's heart was pumping really loud – swinging his floodgates of emotions wide open.

_I'm doomed_, he thought.

* * *

_[Meanwhile…]_

Beca was kneeling on the floor as she sorted out her CDs. For the past two hours, she had been working at a mix. This was the first time she removed her headphones from her head and took a break. A lot of things kept bugging her mind; she was simply trying to escape.

She heard the door open – signalling Chloe's entrance. Beca didn't turn around and instead, busied herself with the CDs on the floor. She felt her pulse starting to rush again. They had not talked yet since the redhead walked out of the room very angry last Saturday. When Beca had correctly piled up the CDs, she sighed and prepared herself for the bigger heartache of seeing Chloe's frown and meeting brows. She stood up and headed back to her desk. Just as she turned, she froze with what she saw. Her headphones were being worn but not by her.

Chloe hummed gently and bobbed her head enthusiastically as she took pleasure in listening to Beca's mix. She got lost in enjoying the brunette's work that she didn't notice Beca standing stiff from afar, with eyes widened out. When Beca's tiny frame entered the corner of her eye, Chloe immediately detached the headphones from her and stared apologetically at her roommate.

"You told me not to touch these. Sorry." Chloe's voice was subtle and calm, - like a naughty kid caught with her hand inside the cookie jar.

Beca gulped nervously as a pair of electric blue eyes stared at her. "It's… It's okay," she replied sheepishly. There was no frown, no meeting brows. There was nothing in the face that her fiery red locks fenced but a small smile.

They exchanged stares for a second. Chloe spoke up when she noticed a change in the brunette's expression. "Beca, are you okay? You look like you're going to cry." She chuckled softly.

"Y-you're not m-mad at me?" Beca's voice turned little.

"No, silly! Not anymore!" She walked over to her and got the pile of CDs from Beca's grip. "It's late, Becs. Your mix can wait 'til morning." Chloe neatly placed Beca's CDs into her drawers before gently leading the brunette to bed. "Come on, you're tired."

When they were both settled in their own sides of the bed, Chloe turned the TV on and switched the channel to one of Beca's favorite shows: _Asia's Next Top Model_. On several occasions, the redhead had seen her stay up so late just to catch the live airing of the show.

Beca couldn't concentrate on what they were both watching. She felt butterflies barging in at the lovely sound of Chloe's laugh. ANTM's guest judge was a comedian/designer; he filled the episode with endless punch lines.

Chloe broke the muteness between the two of them. "Why do you even watch this?"

"Something wrong with watching it?" Beca was finally easing out again - much to Chloe's delight.

Chloe laughed. "I didn't know you were into fashion, Becs."

"I'm not."

Chloe wrinkled the bridge of her nose as she began to wonder. "Then… Then why do you keep watching ANTM?"

"Asian models are gorgeous. I'm in love with them," replied Beca.

_Ouch. What a punch_, thought Chloe. She bit her bottom lip as jealousy silently took over her.

When the redhead didn't say anything in return, Beca grinned and playfully punched Chloe's arm. "I'm playing with you, Oh-Chlo! I love ANTM for featuring awesome Asian landmarks for their shoot."

Chloe realized her agenda and rolled her eyes. "Not funny, Beca."

_Totally not funny_, Chloe thought in her head. She crossed her arms and pouted. She continued on watching the show with Beca, this time carefully avoiding to open any conversation.

When deafening silence locked them up again, Beca looked to Chloe – her eyes changing and her lips frowning at the very sight of the redhead's posture and expression.

Chloe caught her staring with that weird look like Beca was again going to cry.

_Those fucking blue puppy-dog eyes_, spoke Chloe in her head as Beca's gaze penetrated through her very core.

Baffled, Chloe narrowed her eyes at the brunette.

"You're not mad again, are you?" Beca inquired shyly.

In a blink, Chloe felt her cheeks warming up and her lips crooking into an admiring smile. _Can you get any cuter, Beca?_

With Chloe's now light and carefree face, Beca's sincere and happy smile returned.

They both resumed watching the show while exchanging thoughts on each contestant and on the selected venues for the episode's shoot. A few minutes later, both were laughing at each other's silly comments. Beca and Chloe owned their world as they bonded.

"What was that gambling addiction thing that Aubrey was saying earlier?" Beca inquired out of nowhere.

"About Cynthia Rose?"

Beca nodded.

"Oh. That." Chloe shortly ran a hand through her hair. "It first started when she broke up with her girlfriend two years ago. The relationship ended badly; Rosie blamed herself for being the cause of its fall. She resorted to gambling since then, for escape."

"Was it really her?" Beca asked curiously. "Was Rosie really the cause?"

Chloe gently shook her head. "I don't think so.

"She told us how it happened and from my judgement, it wasn't her fault. It sounded like she was very loyal and loving to the girl. I'm supposing that their relationship hit the rocks because the girl was a bitch and Rosie was this little martyr to blame it all on herself."

When the hype resolved and they were both reduced to silently watching, Chloe stole glances on the brunette and noticed that her yawning were growing frequent.

"You know, there's a replay tomorrow in the afternoon. You're sleepy, Becs."

Beca had a big yawn before replying. "I'm not sleepy, Oh-Chlo," she lied.

Chloe giggled. "Come on, Becs. We both know how this episode is going to end, anyway. Ida will be the one kicked out."

Beca raised her voice a little. "No! It's Mei-Li. She'll get kicked out! Ida did a good shoot."

"Becs, Ida sat on the grass while she sported skinny jeans and brown wedges! She basically put her outfit into waste with her stupid pose. If I were this episode's guest judge, I'd stamp a big 'F' on her forehead!" Chloe explained.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Oh-Chlo. I know I'm right. Mei-Li will be saying her goodbyes."

Chloe chuckled. "Fine, you win." She was desperate to rest her head on Beca's shoulder, but the red line between them wouldn't let her.

Several minutes had passed and the host was about to announce who will be eliminated. Chloe smirked as she hoped that she wins the bet over Beca. It startled her when something smacked to her shoulder, - Beca's head glided sideways to her. The brunette had finally given up and fallen asleep.

_I don't mind you trespassing, Beca. I really don't mind_, thought Chloe as she rested her head gently against Beca's. A satisfied smile pulled out of the redhead's face as she held Beca's hand and linked their fingers together.

_Good night, Becs._

* * *

Chloe grunted in vexation when her alarm clock rang very early the next day. She slammed her fist to it to turn it off. When she glanced around, the room looked exactly the same as she left it the previous night: TV turned off, main lights off, lamp shades on, air conditioner at sixteen degrees, - all but one thing… No Beca Mitchell snoozing beside her.

The redhead wore her indoor slippers and journeyed the dark hallways of Casa Bella all the way to the dining area, where she found the brunette under a small light – enjoying a bowl of cornflakes. She walked over to Beca and sat across.

As she did, Beca stared at her with eyes wide open as if in surprise. Her cheeks were puffed with cornflakes and small drips of milk fell out of her tightly closed lips.

"Good morning," Chloe greeted.

Beca resumed chewing all that was in her mouth and wiped her face clean before greeting back. "Gmownin Oklo," she mumbled.

Chloe chuckled. "It's not good to speak words while your mouth is full, you know?"

Beca chewed a little more. "It wasn't full. It was half-empty. There's a difference."

Chloe watched her eat. She admired the way the brunette gormandized on her favorite cornflakes.

"Why are you up so early?" Beca inquired before putting in another spoonful of her cereals.

Chloe shrugged. "Nothing. I simply woke up. It's not like I did it on purpose," she lied.

"You were wrong, you know?" Chloe began. "Mei-Li didn't get sent home; Ida did."

Beca was too busy scooping milk and sipping it rapidly to respond in a jiffy. "My bets always lose. It sucks."

"Are you done cooking breakfast? I'm hungry." Chloe asked.

Beca shook her head. "I woke up later than usual. No time to cook. Don't worry Oh-Chlo, I already ordered _Sbarro_. Thank goodness for their 24-hr delivery service."

Chloe frowned. "Can't you just share me your cornflakes?"

Beca's brows met. She started speaking defensively. "Oh-Chlo, these are expensive cornflakes. My dad always scolds me for dropping boxes of this into the grocery cart… which is why I tend to conserve my supply."

_Oh, you cute little bastard_, thought Chloe.

"If you don't mind me asking," Chloe began. "I'd like to know – who was the first one who knew that you started drinking?"

Beca chewed and chewed and chewed. "My dad, of course."

Without warning, Chloe reached over and seized Beca's unfinished bowl away.

"Chloe, what the hell?!" Beca yelled.

"Relax, Becs. I'm going to give it back," replied Chloe.

"Chloe _Bean_, you slide it over to me right now!" Beca was already standing and was pointing a finger to Chloe.

"It's Beale, Becs. Beale. Chloe _Beale_," the redhead replied calmly.

"Give it back!" Beca yelled once more.

"Not until you answer me honestly first!" Chloe yelled back.

Beca narrowed her eyes at the redhead. "You got one question," she spoke low.

"Who was the first one who knew that you started drinking?"

Beca glared at her for a while, her fist clenching as it rested on top of the table. "Jesse."

Chloe smirked. _Holy fuck, it really works!_

"Okay, you're done, Oh-Chlo. Give my cornflakes back," said Beca – this time, calmer. When the redhead didn't even budge, Beca rapidly reached all the way across the table for her bowl but Chloe was quicker and had brought the bowl away from the table.

"Chloe! Give! That! Back!" Beca's voice was angry… and pleading at the same time.

Chloe walked over to a corner. She opened the lid of a trash bin and held the bowl over its opening.

Beca stood erect and extended her hands in front of her. "Chloe! No! Please, please don't put it in there. I beg you, please. I'll do anything you ask, just please don't-,"

"Anything?" Chloe interrupted.

Beca was starting to breathe hard. "A-anything."

"Fine," replied Chloe as she held her chin up proudly. "Go on a date with me."

Beca's eyes filled with confusion. "Chloe, what the fuck! No way! No fucking way!"

Chloe lowered Beca's bowl of cornflakes in a quick manner, causing the brunette to yell from her stance. "No! Chloe! Okay! Okay! I'll go on a date with you! Okay!"

Chloe recapped the trash bin and walked over to where the brunette stood frozen. Before she handed the bowl over, she inquired, "We good?"

"Good," replied Beca nervously.

Chloe gave her bowl back. "I'll meet you in our room at six tonight," she said before placing a light kiss on Beca's cheek.


End file.
